The Old New World – Part 1

Indra – the Hindu God of War

 

 

Crossover

Three days ago I crossed over into Laos.

It has been many years since I was here. This time was different though. I went to the eastern Thai border and crossed over to the town of Pakse.

I have to admit that I had never heard of Pakse.

A city of about 100,000, Pakse is located at the mouth of the rivers Xe Don and Mekong in southern Laos. in 1905 it was founded by French colonialists and served as the capital of the Kingdom of Champasak. It was unified with the rest of Laos in 1946.

But my reason for coming into Laos was not Pakse.

It was a small village named after the state, Champasak. Once I crossed the Thai/Laotian border [that’s another story!] and got to the bus station in Pakse, I talked a song-teaw [double-benched pickup truck] driver into taking me here. An hour later I checked into the guesthouse I had called earlier that day.

After settling in and taking a nap I walked across the street. I entered a vacant, tree covered lot because there, in all of its historic and natural glory, was the mighty Mekong River. I had only seen the Mekong before in the far north, near Luang Prabang.

In southern Laos, it is a different beast.

An Immense Vision

At the building next to where I entered the vacant lot there were four men, they were playing bocce! Or so I thought. I later learned the game here is called pétanque. To the ignorant it may look similar to bocce. It turns out to be vastly different, my first French surprise in Laos.

Read about pétanque - https://www.backyardtravel.com/blog/love-for-petanque-in-laos/

The men were so intensely involved in their game they totally ignored me. So, as they went about their game, I walked toward the small pavilion that overlooked the Mekong.

The Mekong Meets the Santa Cruz

It was different from the Santa Cruz River in Tucson.

From where I stood the bank of the river dropped about thirty to forty feet. Because monsoon had just started, the river was yet at full capacity. I stood there staring, dumbfounded.

It was hilarious, but a few days ago I had received and read information about the Santa Cruz River in Arizona. The new wonderful advances being made by city water reclamation there.

Looking here, my dumfoundedness turned to laughter between the differences of deserts and tropics. I understand why I love them so profoundly – the vast opposite ends of our earths spectrum.

 

Vat Phou

But this wan’t my reason for coming to Champasak.

My real reason lay an eleven kilometer bike ride away – the historic UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vat Phou. The site has been meticulously restored by the Archaeological Survey of India. This was a massive site, one of the largest in Laos, dedicated to Hindu deities. It was built to express the Hindu vision of the relationship between nature and humanity.

The area and architecture predates the more famous 15th C. Angkor Wat. Portions of it date to the 5th C., but most dates from the 10th, 11th C.

Vat Phou lies at the base of Mount Phou Kao, just south of the small village of Champasak. After a good nights sleep, I woke up and began my bike ride there.

Shiva and the Linga

Champasak is near Mount Phou Kao. The mountain can be seen from the entire region. Often I could see it covered in clouds and fog. When cleared though, at the top stands the reason why the entire site was founded. A ten meter linga, the original symbol of god Shiva on earth. Shiva is the master of the trimurti, the Brahmanistic triad, with the gods Vishnu and Brahma as his subordinates

Before coming here, I knew what a linga was. I’ve seen them in India and, of course, they always attract. What I didn’t know was that this entire complex was dedicated to them.

For some reason, one always finds that ancient, sexual references are hindered at historic sites. I still can’t understand why Western scholars and historians seem embarrassed to describe or detail such obvious human traits. But there I was, at the base of a mountain with a ten meter linga observable for miles around.

 

So – it’s right there…..|…..so I was told.

 

__________________________________________

Ride Delight

The ride to the site was a delight, though hot as hell. My light-blue shirt sweated to a dark-blue back. Children would point and laugh.

I had read that there are other historic places related to the main area and soon saw a small sign that pointed down a trail. It had an arrow that read ‘Ancient Outer Wall’. I took a right down the narrow dirt road. Soon I was running into rain-made muddy-ruts that challenged my adeptness.

I kept on.

 

The road narrowed and turned into newly planted rice fields. Then there was a kid in a hut. I asked him if he knew where the ancient wall was but my Thai was a bit much for a rural Laotian kid. He looked at me, laughed, and told me he didn’t know what I was talking about. Then another kid came running up and yelled,

‘Hello! I’m Superman! Take my picture!’

Soon, a man carrying a branch came walking down one of the rice paddy berms. He came over and I asked what he was carrying. I couldn’t understand much but knew it was bee or wasp larvae. He told me they were eating it with lunch, did I want to join them?

I was hungry but told them I needed to get to the historic site.

We all wai-ed. I took the muddy trail back to the main road, historic wall unfounded.

________________________________________

 

French Heaven

 

I was nearly to the UNESCO site and realized I should eat before entering. I had talked to a German woman who had gone here. She said she spent over five hours during her visit. There were cafes along the road. I stopped for breakfast hoping larvae wasn’t served.

There was a hipster looking place so I stopped in. Again, I was the only person there. The nice guy, watching TV with his two kids, came over. He spoke English and showed me the menu. I ordered my second French surprise.

An omelette filled with vegetables, two small baguettes with fresh butter and tamarind jam, a plate of fruit and double espresso. Total: $3.25

I was in French Heaven.

_____________________________________

 

Other Worlds

The mountain here was named Lingaparvata in ancient Khmer times, before Angkor Wat. This translates to “Linga Mountain”. The pillar like stone formation on top resembles a linga which represents the Hindu God Shiva. Along with the originating spring, these were considered sacred.

I paid a small fee to enter the site.

Instead of taking the electric cart to the main area, I walked in. To begin you pass the main barays. These are huge water reservoirs, built as part of the original site. They symbolize the oceans that surround Mount Meru – the center of Hindu mythology.

They are feed by the spring from the mountain above.

After you pass the reservoirs there is a built bank that takes you up to the road that leads up to the palaces.

Wide and lined with hundreds of linga, it is astounding.

It’s just the beginning.

Lingas & Goats

Of course, as soon as I started up the road to the main complexes a herd of goats appeared. There walked the ancient creation of the Greek god Pan surrounded by the lingas of Vishnu. Suddenly, I was surrounded and confronted with an array of mythology.

I was ecstatic and confused by the symbolism between both stories appearing here.

With the entry of Alexander the Great into India with his Greek gods – was there a crossover? After all, his entry and the writings of the Bhagavad Gita happened around the same time- 326 BCE.

Much too much for me to even try to consider – but they crept up around me during the entire day, the goats and lingas. Greek and Indian gods.

All of a sudden, as you walk up the road of the first lingas, the palaces rise above the roadway.

 

You walk up the incline to the palace level. There is one on the right and one on the left.

 

______________________________________________

 

The beauty is indescribable. Here are some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These figures are at the right and left base columns at a doorway.

_____________________________________

 

From the palace complexes you can look down at the linga roadway entrance – then up to the next upper linga roadway.

You walk up the roadway to the base of the next stairway.

The stairs go to the walkway to the next stairs.

Along with goats, your efforts have just begun. For these are very tall and narrow stairs – eleven stairs in each of seven levels.

 

Next: The Old New World – Part 2

 

__________________________________