Wat Phu Festival 2008, part 2
More photos from Wat Phu Festival 2008. The next festival will take place in February of 2009 so mark your calendar and get there. This is a place that must be visit by all khon Lao, even for once in a life time. As a little kid I had a dream of seeing this historical site and my dream came true last year when I attended the 5th Years Anniversary of Wat Phu being named as the World Heritage site.
I noticed a lot more trash in the photos this year than last year. I wonder if people just don’t care and throw trashes around or they just didn’t have enough trash bins set up. I am assuming there is a clean up crew after the festival and all those plastic bags will be collected. If not, then they will find there ways to the rice paddies in the area. It’s not a pretty site to see for sure. We all know how some of Laovoicers here feel about these plastic bags and containers. Keep it clean is a slogan that is being promoted in Chammpassak Province from all the board signs I have seen last year. I don’t know if the campaign is working. Maybe it is something that must be taught in the homes, to clean up your own mess and not throw thrash around.
I am sadden
by all the trash around this ancient landmark. I can’t help but think it look just a dump site with crumbling building then something historical. Are there no ground keeper or any authority that look over the place?
I’m glad Wat Phu Champassak has been marked a World Heritage site. I hope to see in one day too. There is a calm beauty to the place, but the trash really does take some of that away.
As Darly mention, there are efforts being made, but not sure if it’s being enforced. Maybe the Buddhist monks should emphasis more cleary that “cleaning up your trash” and “taking care of the temple” as ways of beng a good Buddhist (or person). It would do all of us a big favor
Having a clean nation begins in the classroom. I like to be the detention teacher who teaches Lao kids the right way to pick up trash. Once they know how hard it is to pick up trash they won’t do it again. Teaching some of the harder adults isn’t easy. You give them a stiff fine and the only thing wrong to them is getting caught.
I was also taught not to walk in the same path as everyone else because the grass could die. Once the grass dies, the soil opens up a path for pneumonias.
I was taught to put trash in my pocket when there are no trash bins around. Maybe there are no trash bins in the photos because people must’ve run off with them. I have a lots of crazy ways to lock thing down.
I notice that these ancient buildings are constructed with absolute perfection and harmony. What I don’t understand is that some of the newer temples in Laos show signs of sagging or skewing over time. I hope visitors will go home and think about how to build a long lasting stone temple. I like to see more temples carve out of quality stones.
Hey Dallas,
Think of trash as if it were gold. Watch how fast we race to pick it up just by changing our thought. This also help stop us from seeing life as sad. Think about the joyful, blissful people who ate in the white container.
The creator of the ancient building is more than happy to see people there because it was intended to be with people. The trash is a byproduct of an emerging nation who isn’t accustomed to the new product containers. New infrastructures such as bins or methods such as teaching kids earlier would have been nice but it wasn’t enacted quickly enough because development came at a surprise. The great thing about this is that every single stone wasn’t taken by each visitor. If that ever happens, we’d have to tell them that the stones can create a curse which will haunt them with death and bad luck until the stones are returned, which is true. And also, never say, “I love that stone, it’s beautiful,” when you are at the site. “I love to have it,” is even worse. This info was handed down from our ancestors who lived in the area. Don’t say I didn’t warn you guys.