CHAMPASSAK WAS ANIMATED despite the sweltering heat of mid-morning.
　　　　  Women dressed in sarong-like skirts and white blouses converged on
　　　　  the community hall that overlooks the palm-shaded river meandering
　　　　  through the town. The women of Champassak had been cooking for
　　　　  several days now; enough rice, fish, pork and poultry to feed the
　　　　  whole town and its guests. Many of the men were inside the hall
　　　　  awaiting the arrival of a group of visitors from Vientiane. They had
　　　　  seen the orange dust cloud in the wake of the vehicle bearing the
　　　　  visitors long before it came to a halt in front of the community
　　　　  hall. The group of men and women who emerged--Laotian, American,
　　　　  Indian, Bulgarian and English--had all been waiting for this moment:
　　　　  their first glimpse of Wat Phou, the legendary temple that had been
　　　　  built in this remote corner of Laos in the days of the Khmer Empire.
　　　　 
　　　　  While the elders led the visitors into the community hall, an
　　　　  orchestra struck up an undulating rhythmic song played on
　　　　  traditional instruments: flutes, clarinets, xylophones with bamboo
　　　　  cross-pieces, drums, cymbals, and the khen, a hand-held pipe organ
　　　　  that is the national instrument. In a large room about 70 men sat
　　　　  around a centrepiece in the form of a tree made from banana leaves
　　　　  and flowers and surrounded by symbolic foods. The baci ceremony,
　　　　  marking the importance of the occasion, was about to start. While a
　　　　  lay priest intoned benedictions and prayers, the hosts tied cotton
　　　　  strips around the wrists of their guests, symbolizing good health,
　　　　  prosperity and happiness.
　　　　  At the banquet that followed the baci, women served steaming dishes
　　　　  of fish, pork and chicken and the staple of all Laotian
　　　　  meals--sticky rice. There were toasts in lau lao, the potent
　　　　  locally-brewed rice liquor, followed by speeches dedicated to the
　　　　  purpose of this gathering: the restoration of Wat Phou.
　　　　  Built by the Khmer kings on the slopes of the mountain that emerged
　　　　  from the forest surrounding this small provincial town, Wat Phou is
　　　　  in ruins. Champassak was celebrating the fact that it was about to
　　　　  be saved from the tidal wave of vegetation in which the heavenly
　　　　  dancers of its bas-reliefs were drowning. The visitors represented
　　　　  years of effort by the Government of Laos and the international
　　　　  community to save this national treasure, efforts that had now
　　　　  culminated in UNDP and UNESCO agreeing to finance and assist in the
　　　　  renovation work, and in the establishment of a museum in Champassak