Life is a journey.
So I want to travel as much as I can.
Vientiane
May 22, 2014 - May 25, 2014
DAY 1.
Vientiance is the capital of Laos, located near the Thai border. We arrived in a place from Bangkok, after about an hour ride with the national airline, Lao Airlines. They were celebrating its 25th anniversary on board, but it was ironic that neither my boyfriend nor myself have heard of Lao Airlines before...!
We took a taxi to a small guesthouse we booked, called Mixok Guesthouse.
The stay in Luang Prabang was hosted by our business partner, but it did not cover our stay in Vientiane. As we traveled with limited budget, it was one of the cheapest place we could find - only US$45 for 2 nights! Although expectations were low, the hotel was very comfortable, providing free breakfasts, clean room with A/C and TV, and easy access to the center of the city.
We don't usually watch TV, but after arriving we turned it on to see local programs - and we saw a news that there was a large protest by anti-coup, right in front of the hotel we were staying the night before in Bangkok! It was neither violent nor dangerous, but I was glad we got out of there before things got messy.
At night we tried "the most famous restaurant in Vientiane" (as the ad said so), Khop Chai Deu. It was busy with both local and foreign people. The atmosphere was good, nice balcony for large groups - a lot of people were drinking beer out of a large pitcher. In Laos people drink beer with ice, just like in Cambodia, because it is too hot - and you drink fast! Lao beer is the local beer; it's great when you are in a hot and humid place like Laos....! We ordered a Laos meal set, to try the local cuisine. All of the dishes were tasty! Some of them were too spicy for me, but I loved that it had lots of vegetables. We heard that the food price in Vientiane is high compared to the money people make, because Laos does not have sufficient manpower and technology to grow enough food for all the Lao people, so they import from Thailand or Vietnam. I did some research and Laos' food self-efficiency rate is more than 100% - they export rice to neighboring countries, so it does not explain why the price of food was higher than Thailand or Cambodia despite the low labor cost in the country - but maybe that was because it was one of the limited numbered way for them to make money - from tourists. Still, for a Japanese like me, it is still very reasonable!
Day 2.
We were supposed to get up early and do some city tour, but we were lazy - we ended up sleeping in, and just walked around the hotel, looking for a place to rent a bicycle, and just got to know the area. The city of Vientiane is very small, if you don't mind the heat (which is most of the time overwhelming), you can walk around the major area in 30-40 minutes. The streets were deserted mostly because it was not the tourist season, and there are not many cars in the city, compared to other big cities in Asia. We walked to a park by the Mekong River, called Chao Anouvong Park. There is nothing much in the park, except workout machines available for everyone! It's basically a free gym, but the problem is that it is too hot during the day, and too dark during the night. So these machines are just sitting in the sun most of the time, without being used...
We found a motorbike shop and rented one. It's not as cheap to rent as in Thailand - but it was a great idea since walking for 5 minutes was enough to sweat like a pig.
DAY 3.
We could wake up early enough to tour around the city this time. It's very hot and humid, so a few minutes on a bike can burn your body with the reflecting heat from the asphalt. We passed by the Presidential Palace, which is not the residence of Lao's President, but used as a venue for government functions and ceremonies. Though it is closed for public, the side gate was open and there were no guards around - we could see that Laos is a peaceful place!
A few minutes from the Presidential Palace, there is Wat Ho Phra Keo. It was constructed in 1565 as the Lao royal family’s personal chapel, and as a home for the Emerald Buddha, thought it was taken by northern Siam group in Thailand. Yes I have seen many temples in Cambodia and Thailand - but Wat Ho Phra Keo is very different, and is definitely worth a visit.
The temple is surrounded by a beautiful garden, and it would be a perfect place to sit and relax, if it was not that hot. The stairs' stone balustrade has a shape of a dragon, as if they guard the temple from evil. Inside the building is a museum, displaying manuscripts, wooden carvings, and budhha statues. What's astonishing is the outside - many beautiful Buddhist sculptures surround the temple.
Next destination was "Bhudda Park (Xieng Khuan)", which is located 25km away from the city of Vientinene. It took us about an hour by motorbike, mostly because the road was made by dirt, and it was very bumpy! Every time the bike jumped, I screamed - it hurted, but it was fun, like riding a roller coaster! We passed the frendship bridge between Thailand and Laos, crossing the Mekong River - it was just a simple, plain bridge. It seems not much were built on either side of the river, and most of the cars crossing the bridge were large trucks carrying goods.
Bhudda Park was very interesting, though there was barely anyone there. Hundreds of Bhudda statues lay in a large park - some of them were actually not Bhudda, but weird creatures of imagination. It was built in 1958 by a monk who studied both Buddhism and Hinduism, so I guess some of the statues were hindu. My favorite was the large, pumpkin-looking building located near the entrance of the park - you can go inside, go up 3 floors to be at the top, and see the whole park from there. Inside, it looks more like a studio or an artist, as the space is filled with unfinished (or not so good qualitied) statues of Bhudda and other religious figures. Since it is like a maze inside, it is a good place for kids to play around, for sure! There is a small local restaurant in the area, and we had some refreshments. The time seems go to by slowly there - it was a nice short trip to visit the park.
Back in the city, we visited the National Monument Pha That Luang. It's a golden stupa, which was built by King Setthathirat in 1566 on the site of a 13th century Khmer ruin. It was damaged during the invasions by neighboring countries in the 18th and 19th centuries, but with French's help, restoration was done in 1930. Unfortunately we got too late that it was already closed! But it was beautiful to look at. There were several temples around, and they were all magnificent. It's a huge area, but again almost no one is there - Laos is often referred as a "forgotten" place, and I can see - the country is beautiful and has a lot to offer for tourists, but it is not (yet) the top destinations to visit in the world. I hope it changes soon though, because I see it is a beautiful country!
We drove by the "Arc de triomphe" of Laos, Patuxai - it's beautiful, but again surprisingly small number of people was there. It was built in 1949 for the Laotian soldiers who died during World War II and the independence war from France. I found a funny story when I was searching for more information, it says that the monument was built using American funds and cement intended to build a new airport. It is photogenic for sure, but not sure how useful it is, compared to an airport! On other note, the International Airport of Laos was expanded recently, in which the Japanese Government provided ¥1.9bn ($23.4m) funding through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). When we drove around the city, I saw a lot of Japanese flags at construction site, parks and bridges. It's great to see my country helping to build infrastructure in a beautiful country such as Laos! But I hope the funds are used correctly this time... :)
On the way to the city, it was almost 3 pm but we hadn't eaten - we saw a large local restaurant, so we stopped by. It was huge, as if it could fit 200 people - but there was no one. Staff didn't speak English at all, but we managed to order some food and beer. There was a karaoke space too, which I think is used at night. I'm sure it gets lively at night. Our food arrived, but they were so spicy that I had to give up after a few bites! I had more than a liter of water there.
A group of locals arrived as we were finishing, and they ordered a large beer pitcher, probably containing 5-6 liters of beer. I am sure their night just began then....
We found a Belgium bar near the Chao Anouvong Park, so we stopped by to check out. It was full with travelers, mostly European. The bar is decorated with my husband's favorite cartoon character, Tintin! The Belgium beers were great, without a doubt - but I don't think I would go back again and pay US$10 for a beer, when you can buy a local beer for US$1 or less!
There was a night market in the park, so we walked around a bit and bought T-shirts with Laos’s writings on them. Mine has the numbers in Laotian, and my husband's shirt says "Skip out (on a restaurant)!". Most products, however, were more expensive than Thailand or Cambodia, so we didn't buy much. There were lots of people, but surprisingly many locals - I guess since Vientiane is the capital, people living there make enough money, unlike other parts of Laos, which live on less than US$1.25 per day.
Day 4.
Early in the morning, it was time for us to leave Vientiene, and visit the UNESCO registered city of Laos, Luang Prabang!