Chapter 6

The following characters appear in this chapter:

Venerable Seng

Retired Abbot of Wat Chom Khao Manilat, a very old, wizened, wrinkled, and very thin old man. It was difficult to tell his height or weight. His robe was too large for him now

Keomany

Older woman who greeted them, 5’-3’’ tall, 115 pounds, about 50 years old, long black hair going gray, brown eyes, weathered skin from a lot of work outside

Khamla

Keomany’s Son, tuk tuk driver, 5’-6’’ tall, 130 pounds, 27 years old, long black hair, brown eyes

Samlor

Not a character, but a means of transportation, A three wheel bicycle with a large seat for the passenger or passengers over the rear wheels. Google Samlor to see the pictures. They are the bicycles not the soup

Mike still has the Narrative

Chanthra soon rejoined us.

“Where to?” I asked when she was seated.

“Drive into town. We need to visit the Wat that the Amulets told me about, but we should eat something first, as I don’t know how long we will need to remain at the Wat,” she told me.

I had already pulled out the map of Northern Laos with the detailed map of Huay Xai on it. After checking the map to determine our route, we started up the road from the cargo port to head into Huay Xai. We discovered just how short the cargo port road was, as we quickly came to its intersection with road #3 and turned right across traffic to head into town.

On reaching the third road on the left, we turned onto it and soon saw a small rahn ahan (restaurant) on the left. Just after passing the restaurant, I saw an open area on the left and pulled into it. It was large enough for a couple of tuk tuks to park or a baht-bus which are called songthaews in Northern Thailand and here in Northern Laos. Since it was mid-morning, there weren’t that many drivers eating now so the space had been empty.

The restaurant was a rather plain one and had a simple menu. Chanthra and I ordered kao put gai (chicken fried rice). Yuang ordered a noodle soup called guiuai-dtiiao (quit dell) which had rice noodles, vegetables, and a bit of meat in it. The soup was served in a large bowl. Our fried rice was served on large platters with green onions and cucumber slices, but no fried egg on top. Each person seasoned his or her food to suit their taste from small dishes of peppers and fish sauce served with each meal. The meals were large enough to satisfy one for a good while and weren’t very expensive. Additionally, we still had some of the fruit that Chanthra had picked up earlier that morning after we had breakfast.

It was only a short distance, a few blocks, from the restaurant to the entrance of the Wat. Unfortunately, those in many small towns in Southeast Asia had never heard of the concept of regular blocks in their cities. In Huay Xai’s case, there were no blocks as there were no side streets. This street was just one long row of buildings on each side of the street because of the Wat on the hill.

Still, it was far enough that we couldn’t leave the truck parked at the restaurant. Also, others would soon need the parking spaces when they stopped to eat. I, however, had to wonder if we would be able to find a parking space in the vicinity of the Wat’s entrance. Since our destination was so close, I moved the truck slowly for the short distance that we needed to go. Chanthra was the first to spot the entrance to the Wat.

“There, those are the steps up to the Wat,” she said pointing to the right. I, on the other hand, was looking to the left for a possible parking spot. You can imagine my surprise when a hundred feet or so ( 30 meters) past the Wat’s entrance, I spotted a fair sized parking area between the sprawl of buildings. There was a taxi parked there presently, but there was more than enough space for the truck, another taxi, and a couple of tuk tuks. The taxi driver was surprised to see a large fa-rang get out of the truck with two Thai women after we had parked.

Wat Chom Khao Mamilat is located on top of a large hill in Huay Xai. It is a Shan Style Temple built of teak. It had been rebuilt in about 1880 (2423 by the Buddhist calendar) but is believed to be very much older, perhaps as much as eight or nine hundred years old.

The entrance stairs for the Wat are located between two wooden buildings. From the dark weathered color of their exterior surfaces, they appeared to be nearly as old as the rebuilt Wat. The stairs themselves at street level are guarded by a pair of Naga statues. Naga are a mythical dragon creature. The statues were painted very brightly and the tops of the walls on each side of the stairs conformed to their green sinuous bodies. The stone steps themselves appeared to be very old and had been worn by the feet of many worshipers over time. Both the steps and the walls had been painted white. The walls still looked very good, but the paint on the steps was worn and missing in many places. The steps went up for a long way ... a very long way.

“The Amulets told me that there are more than one hundred steps,” Chanthra informed us.

“Surely, there must be another entrance. Do the monks go up and down all of these steps every day?” I asked.

“I have no idea, but if they do, they must have very powerful leg muscles,” she replied. We proceeded up the steps, and it was a long way. Finally arriving at the top of the steps, we found a vast courtyard opened before us in front of the temple’s main building. We could see several stupas or chedis in the courtyard as well as a tall bell-tower near where the stairs ended. There were several other buildings in the area surrounded by the Wat’s outer walls.

The main temple building had three levels of roofs covering the various parts of the main building. Even the roofs covering the porch on this end of the building had three levels, but they were lower than those of the main part of the building.

“This is the rear of the Usobot (Ordination Hall) that we are looking at,” Chanthra told us. “The main entrance always faces east to the rising sun, which is across the river,” she added.

We spent some time following that looking at the different areas of the Wat. The most time, however, was spent looking at the main building to see all of it. The two entrances were very fancily decorated. There was also a large white Buddha image on the east entrance to the building, as well as another large Buddha image inside along with many smaller images.

There were also many intricately painted murals displaying the various mudras or symbolis or ritual gestures or poses used in Buddhism and the teaching of Buddha on both the exterior and the interior walls of the building. There was also a sign stating that tourists were not allowed in the main building. It was in English, Thai and several other languages.

There were many young monks visible in the area going about their daily tasks. They all seemed friendly and helpful. After we had been there for a time and had seen much of the Wat, we were approached by three of the young monks. Following the usual greetings in Thai and Lao, the one who seemed to be in charge addressed Chanthra and me in fairly good English.

“There is one who wishes to speak to you. We will guide you to where he waits,” the monk told us. They led us to a sala, or small rest pavilion, where a very old monk was sitting on a small low table in the middle of the open structure.

“This is Venerable Seng. He is the retired Abbot of our Wat. He came today to speak to you. He told us that a tall fa-rang and two poo-ying (females) would arrive today. We were to bring you to him after you had time to look at the Wat,” the young monk told us before the three of them withdrew after the usual greetings. I looked over at Chanthra.

“Is this who you were expecting to meet?” I asked very quietly.

“The Amulets only told me that someone would give us directions,” she told me before entering the sala. Yuang and I followed her in. She made a very respectful bow, wai, and Sawat-dee to the monk who returned the wai and the Sawat-dee. Yuang and I had done the same. The monk then spoke to Chanthra, but in Northern Laotian. It was very hard for me to follow what was said, as it was in a very old dialect.

“The reverend monk wishes us to sit in front of him,” she told us shortly, and we all sat on the floor of the sala. The monk was a very old man. He was wizened, wrinkled, and very thin. It was hard to tell his height or his age. His robe while not new was still in excellent condition, but hung on him.

“This is Venerable Seng. He was the Abbot here for many years. He is a very holy person,” she told us next. The monk continued to speak to her very slowly and stopped frequently so she could tell us what he had said.

“Last night, I had a dream from the Buddha,” he told us and Chanthra translated.

“In the dream, Buddha told me to return to the Wat today. He told me that a tall fa-rang and two poo-ying would arrive there today. I was to speak to them and tell them to go to Luang Nam Tha today. You are not to remain in Huay Xai, as it would be too dangerous. You will be met by someone at the market there. You will know them, as they will say ‘The Amulets have arrived’. You are to answer, ‘They have always been here’. They will know how to help you with your mission,” Chanthra translated as he finished but before he chuckled.

“I have been living in a house near here lately. The steps are too much for me now. When I awoke this morning, I felt better than I had in some time, and the steps were no challenge at all. I will wait until tomorrow to return to the house, however. I will meditate until then,” he finished, and Chanthra translated for us.

“Thank you, reverend monk, for the advice. May the Buddha always watch over you,” I understood Chanthra to say before we rose, waied, bowed, and sawat-deed before taking our leave.

On reaching the bottom of the stairs, we needed to determine the way to our destination, which was Luang Nam Tha. On reaching the truck, the detailed map of Huay Xai turned out to be less than helpful. While it showed the layout of the town, it wasn’t extensive enough to cover how to reach road #3 going north. The general map of Northern Laos showed road #3 going to Luang Nam Tha, but, didn’t indicate how to get to it from Huay Xai.

Fortunately, or maybe not, there were now two taxis parked in the lot with our truck. I hadn’t been paying a lot of attention to those arriving at the Wat, so had no idea who had arrived in the second taxi.

“Let’s ask the taxi drivers how to reach road #3 to Luang Nam Tha,” I told Chanthra.

“Yes,” she agreed. “You take the one on the right. He looks Thai. I will take the one on the left as he is Lao,” she continued as she could tell the difference. We both turned to our respective drivers.

“Excuse me, krup,” I started in my best Thai. “Can you tell me the best way to reach road #3 to Luang Nam Tha,” I continued.

“That is not a good place to go, krup” he answered in Northern Thai.

“Yes, I’m sure, but we still need to go there, krup,” I continued.

“If you must, then go back to the main road and turn right. Go up the road to the cargo port where you arrived. I looked at your truck tag. It is from Chiang Rai, so you must have crossed the river on a barge. Turn right onto the road across from the cargo port road. That is road #3B. Much of it is like a snake with many turns, but it is only 11 km (7 miles) long or so before you reach road #3. Go north on road #3. It is about 180 km (112 miles) to Luang Nam Tha,” he told me. This certainly didn’t mesh with what I had found from the map which indicated that it was about 80 miles (128 km) from Huey Xai to Luang Nam Tha.