River view, green parks, and a Tuesday Buddha in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is the opposite of Vientiane, fortunately. We arrived at Luang Prabang's little airport yesterday after an uneventful flight (the best kind, right?) on a propellor plane. It's been quite a while since our flight was not on a jet! I read to expect to pay 100,000 kip for a ride to town from the airport. It was only 80,000 kip ($4.60). Our hotel is delightful, run by a young couple who speak some English. And, they charged us $18 less than the amount I had reserved the 5 nights for. Balcony room, without the air conditioner compressor on our balcony:

Overlooking the river, the Nam Khan, a tributary of the Mekong. 

After checking in, we walked on a well-maintained sidewalk along the river to where Nam Khan joined with the Mekong River.

Continuing on the road next to the Mekong River, we were so happy to see cool parks, with trees, plantings, and benches.

As we've been doing in other cities, we walk back in our hotel room by 2 pm to avoid the afternoon heat. It may be prettier here, but it is still hot. From our balcony, Phillip watches construction at buildings between us and the river. Keeps him occupied while I read or plan which restaurant we will walk to for dinner. A worker was tiling the roof this morning. No nails or screws, just overlapping tiles with a concrete roof ridge to secure the top run of tile.

This morning, we tackled Mount Phousi, the south side of which is just across the main road from our hotel. I chose to walk further, to the less steep ascent, but it was still a chore.

First set of stairs

Uneven brick and concrete steps, but with reasonable rise in each tread (not like those Angkor steps!) to flat areas.

Mount Phousi is covered with Buddhas. I wore long pants because it is considered a holy site.  People were putting flowers and lighted incense at some of the accessible Buddha statues. Some statues were identified because the images were created with Buddha in a specific position. This one, Tuesday Buddha, does not show Buddha at rest. The image represents Buddha making himself bigger than the evil Asura Rahu in a reclining position to lower the pride of Rahu. 

The bulk of the Buddha statues were midway up the mountain. We continued on up the stairs to the top. This is a set of more steps after I climbed them to yet another landing.

From the top, we had views of the city, the Nam Khan River, and the Mekong. 

Across the Mekong River from top of Mount Phousi

Phillip had to venture off the top viewing platform to get a better view. I did not follow him. 

For the walk down, I chose the steeper route. No pictures during that walk as I kept one hand on Phillip's shoulder as I was quite anxious, aware of the height more this time. After Mount Phousi, we walked another few kilometers around town and returned to our hotel just as it began raining! Tomorrow: cooking class and the waterfalls.