Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
into a training centre for novice monks to learn traditional arts and crafts, with a showroom
displaying items for sale, though the quality of the workmanship is not of the highest order.
Wat Pa Phai
Sisavangvatthani Rd
The principal attraction at
Wat Pa Phai
, the Bamboo Forest Monastery, is the facade of the
sim
, painted and lavishly embellished with stylized naga and peacocks. Inside, on the altar,
some hundred-plus Buddha statues are stacked up in rows from the smallest to the biggest,
like Russian dolls.
Wat Sene
Sakkaline Rd
Towards the northern end of the peninsula,
Wat Sene
is the first of a row of monasteries
that monopolize the west side of the street for nearly two blocks (the others, sharing a single
plot, are Wat Sop Sickharam, Wat Ban Phoneheuang and Wat Sirimoungkhoun). Wat Sene is
clearly one of the wealthiest in Luang Prabang, with a magnificent
sim
awash with gold sten-
cilling and a beautiful golden chariot in the grounds. Of particular interest is an ornate boat
shed housing the monastery's two
longboats
, used in the annual
boat race festival
, held at
the end of the rainy season. Fittingly, the pediment of the boathouse is decorated with carved
wooden naga, the mythical serpentine divinities, which are said to escape during the rains
and are enticed back to their protective posts by the races.
