Vientiane: a monk and his puppy

Met up with our new New Zealand friends, Paul and Catherine.  Went to Buddha Park which was a disappointment as it was more or less built in 1958 for tourists, with its hundreds of statues and Buddhas made from concrete.  We did however have a good time laughing at some of the statues and their peculiar expressions and gestures like a thumbs up. Strange place.

Also toured the COPE Visitor Center where we learned about the history of unexploded ordinance (UXO) from the USA’s bombing in the Vietnam War, and information on how the Center is helping those disabled from the UXO.  80 million “bombies” remained unexploded in the Laos.  Somber!

Visited a nearby monastery to see if they would have prayers again.  Found a young monk (10ish) in the temple all by himself playing with a rubik’s cube.  I sat for about 20 minutes and the little monk then left. I walked out of the temple and there in front of the door was a wet shivering little puppy.  It wasn’t long before the little monk came to the puppy’s rescue and helped dry him off and care for it.  Both of them were adorable.

Dinner with four of our new acquaintances at Muzaik .  Paul, Catherine, Ricardo (rick) Kinney (spell).  Great time!

Bombies