Phu Si: A Mountain in the City

Luang Prabang was sizzlingly, stiflingly hot during the day. Everyone, Lao and foreigner, found shady places to doze in the late morning and early afternoon. But almost every day I was there, the sky would open around 3 or 4 p.m. and it would rain torrentially for about an hour before the clouds rolled away and left the city with a (nearly) cool evening. 

On one such evening I went out wandering without a destination. I strolled in the direction of the Nam Khan River:

And then, on a whim, climbed some steps in that grey wall to the right in the picture above. I was probably standing on the bottom step when I took the photo, actually. I followed the sound of monks chanting and  found myself at this small temple, amused by the dogs sprawled on the steps as if lulled by the monks' prayers:

...wandering behind the temple brought me to these mysterious stairs. A good backpacker always climbs mysterious stairs.

...because there's always something amazing at the top! Like Buddha's footprint:

Riiiiight. 

Impressive, I know. What was nice was the accompanying shrine:

jutting out over this view of the city:

And the Nam Khan:

All framed by flame trees. A few more steps...

To a tiny temple built into a cave.

That massive rock isn't in the way of the photo, it actually cuts into the temple there.

More steps, and my dim self suddenly realized that I was climbing the west slope of Phu Si, the mountain in the middle of Luang Prabang. This was made clear to me by a smiling Laotian insisting that I pay a nominal entrance fee, and by the seven Buddhas appearing near the stairs on the way up:

One for every day of the week.

More steps. Sweating and huffing, I reached the top. And there was greater Luang Prabang, reclining to the east and south, embraced by mountains:

It was breathtaking.

The sun was setting fast over the Mekong to the west:

So I started to clamber down the other set of stairs, which zigs and zags down the west slope. Halfway down was a Bodhi tree given to the city of Luang Prabang by the government of India in 1957 to mark the "2,500th anniversary of Buddha" (his birth, presumably). 

There were offerings at the base of the tree where some passed-on traveler had lit a few candles, which were now just a burning pool of wax. 

So I lit new ones.

And hoped that when those burned down, someone else would too.