> On Apr 27, 3:48 pm, brushoff aol.com> wrote:
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>> On Apr 25, 2:00 pm, "z...@hotmail.com" hotmail.com> wrote:

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>>> there are four well know religious places along the mekong valley.

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>>> all are important if you are a lao budhist.

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>>> it stem from the era when  budha was leaving his physical form.. after
>>> walking the earth for 80 eight years..  these monument were dedicated
>>> to his physical present..

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>>> That Eng Hung was where he and his disciples had the midday meal under
>>> the shade of a tree. hung is a tree. so it may have been a big
>>> gathering for the site to have a a rememberance monument. the design
>>> is not so great....

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>>> that phon.  when the budha died his body parts were divided up (I
>>> believe he was cremated) each section was given to varies places so
>>> that his doctrine would continue.
>>> the urn containing his ashes would still be in the monument. that
>>> 'phon' means  stomach.. so the ashes of his stomach is there..

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>>> don't judge the monument by it's appearance.. there were no artisans
>>> so the design is
>>> not very impressive.  it's history does run far and deep..

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>>> Phabat phon sun  this where the budha left his foot print in stone

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>>> that phanom is in isarn former lao territory. there are two stories to
>>> this monument.

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>>> the first is  concerning a battle of the sexes.  the men were
>>> building heu hin (stone house)
>>> other believe it was wat phou.. but wat phu was a functioning khmer
>>> palace before they moved to angkor wat...

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>>>  while building  heu hin ,the head man asked a worker to go and spy on
>>> how the women were progressing with their monument. he returned and
>>> told all his fellow workers that the women were building the  monument
>>> bare  breasted. so all the men workers hurried to see..
>>> and ended up helping the women  complete the monument. it was named
>>> that phanom.  (bare breast/chest)

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>>>  secondly it is a religious monument..  the story is that it was to
>>> house the chest/breast ashes of the budha.. people from laos and isarn
>>> still visit this places to pray today. the people contributed labour
>>> and resources in order to complete the monument.
>>> heu hin was just a khmer outpost that ceased economically..and was
>>> left to ruin, swallowed by the wilderness. so I think the battle of
>>> the sexes was just a story.

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>>> I hope this answer your questions

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>> beggers, just like LPDR.- Hide quoted text -

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>> - Show quoted text -

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> Actually, I think there are more beggars in Cambodia then in Laos.
> When I lived in Laos there weren't that many and they were always very
> quiet people who just came to you with their hand out. But in Cambodia
> they would be quite noisy and demanding.- Hide quoted text -
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> - Show quoted text -