Laos Wat Long Cheng

The abandoned wat in Long Cheng has not seen monk's since the 70's and it has slowly fallen into disrepair, on my visit on the 30th of November the monk's finally returned, the only positive thing to happen in Long Cheng since my visit last November as the priority appears to be the opening of more late night bars to cater for the Chinese and Vietnamese workers.

Early morning as the monk's make their first alm's walk.

Later in the day we decided to walk up and pay them a visit, i was eager to get inside as the place has always been locked up tight.

The six monks and one novice are sleeping inside the wat, and clearly it was a beautiful place at one time.

\

The novice monk shy to have his picture taken.

Outside a newly erected buddha image where a monk sits quietly studying.

It will be interesting to return to see if they can restore the place as its in bad shape.

New building which i presume will be the home of the Abbott is now complete.

Laos, Lima Site 20A Long Cheng A Walkaround

A detailed look at some of the buildings to be seen during a two night stay at Long Cheng we had arrived late evening so it was decided we should spend a couple of nights and the next day have a stroll around, here are some shots to add to those from my earlier visit back in April 2015 

Vang Pao's house, if only these walls could talk back in the day the building had AA guns mounted on the roof.

Various Air America/ Military buildings lay empty the only ones that have been restored appear to be the Lao armies camp.

Walking through the gardens near the ramp, this pig being scorched  of it's fur ready for the butcher.

Propellant canisters being used as building supports.

On the ramp area Russian 4WD parked next to the bomb proof buildings i asked to look inside and was politely refused by the military we sat drinking with.

Army dinner bell.

[

Behind these substantial buildings on the ramp i had noticed some other stone buildings, maybe these could be the remnants of the CIA bar and the famous drinking bear Floyd ?

Shot across the ramp, over in the right of the picture is some sort of vented workshop, the army guy's said next year we would be free to look inside they said it housed various aircraft parts.

In the distance the abandoned Wat, next to it is the living accommodation for the monk who will arrive in December.

This structure and tower adjacent in just down from the wat no information of its purpose but it's isolated from the rest of the buildings.

Tower of some kind to the left of the shot, believed to be the old field hospital.

New home for the monk.

The Wat is in a very sorry state it has remained empty since the late 70's.

Walking back i stopped to give out some sweets, this smart little girl didn't have hands big enough so rolled up her jumper.

Steve preparing for takeoff on the famous strip.

The famous skyline ridge.

Laos Long Cheng To Phonsavan & POI's

Long Cheng to Phonsavan

After two nights in Long Cheng it was time to move on, i had the idea to show Steve a few interesting spots along the way so we had a lot to cram in on the way to Phonsavan.

Only 210 km but we squeezed a lot in.

The mist hangs heavily in Long Cheng until around 8.30 or so we we hang around so we can enjoy the views along the way.

First port of call was a quick meander up Skyline ridge.

You don't need to walk too far before you start to see ordnance laid around, we had been told MAG had been given permission to clear the ridgeline but no sign yet.

Lot's of foxholes still visible.

You could spend a day up here carefully poking around but we had to go.

Back on the road you soon arrive at the shop in Sam Thong for refreshment. Look's like he has a few more additions to his war scrap display.

Steve handing out some coloring books to the kid's in Sam Thong.

I wandered up a little ways to take some pictures of this lady weaving some beautiful fabric.

The guy to the left in the picture was allegedly a policeman, he keep waving a book at me asking me to go to the building opposite, as soon as Steve caught up we got the hell out, all looked a bit fishy to me.

Chimney of old school building or maybe Pop Buell's place.

Shot back down the hill of Sam Thong, lower centre is the building i was asked to go to.

This was a proper mess three of them stuck blocking the way.

Kid's munching on bamboo.

I had spotted an unusual what i thought structure on Google Earth so along the way we went to investigate, still not sure what it was it was square with a metre deep trench around it with a gate, inside people had been dumping trash, 

my only thought was the trench was there to keep vermin out ?

Passed by a couple of teams of MAG people hard at work and popped into Naphia to see if they had any spoons for sale, looks like they have branched out into other knick knacks.

Obviously heavily bombed area, bomb craters all around.

Good use of bomb casings.

Back on the road next stop the P76 tank.

Moving on we rode over to Khuam to check out the main attractions.

The old French hospital, bombed during the war.

My poor eyesight, initially i thought these to be bunkers, i have later been told they are bird traps !!

We headed south to view the army personnel carrier which has now disappeared, got caught in a freak storm on the way back shot some more pictures of another hydro project south of Khuam.

Next stop the Mig fighters this time i counted 14 visible.

With no time to spare it was on to the secret tunnel at Phou Keng.

Now be warned don't be stupid like us and visit in your riding gear at the end of an already long day with no water, it's a bloody LONG way up those stairs trust me.

The young lad breaking out in front only to peak too soon.

When you finally get there you have two tunnels, note you need a lamp.

The main concrete tunnel is some 300 metres or so long through the mountain.

Exit the other side with blast screen.

View from the main tunnel exit.

The other tunnel is a natural one.

This was cute, Laos couple sharing shoes for the hike up.

This place must have been a big target lot's of marked bomb craters.

Some jars visible along the stairway.

So that was it a long day we arrived in Phonsavan in darkness, first priority was a beer while we decided on a place to stay. 💤