This is our last cycling day and we had a leisurely start. More of the same except that we saw 2 elephants lumbering along the road, unphased by the passing traffic. We also stopped at the extraordinary "Sculpture Park, Salakaewkoo", 2km east of Nong Khai and we were fascinated. I can't believe that we have been in Nong Khai 4 times and we have never visited it!
As we walked in, huge statues in concrete (rising more than 7 storeys high) were towering above us and more than a hundred figures from Buddhist and Hindu mythology and animals, warlords and ancient and modern allegorical scenes were scaterred amongs potted plants and trees. It was an amazing sight.
The sculpture park was built by a Laotian shaman/artist/mystic named Boon Leua Sourirat who, allegedly, had fallen in his youth into a hole whilst walking in the forest and had met Kaewkoo. Kaewkoo, a kindly hermit, taught him about Buddha and the underworld and inspired him to pass on this knowledge. Devoteed volunteers, men and women, lived in the grounds and worked on the many scultpures under his guidance. Boon Leua died in 1996 (he fell from a ladder up one of his sculptures) and his mummified body can be seen on the 3rd floor of the main building.
Nicole is counting the days until we get back to England and she can have a cream tea... she fantasized about Liz's scones just as much as when we were in Australia but can only look at Liz's website at the moment... (www.farmhousecreamteas.co.uk)
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