Vientiane is laid-back, peaceful, culinary, inexpensive and one of the quietest capital cities so far.
Phra Thatluang.
Can you believe it? I can’t. Vientiane is the final stop before my trip comes to a close. It’s been a wonderful 8 and a bit months. I have had some great experiences in some wonderful places. Travelling the world this year is the best decision I could have made and I am so grateful I got to do it. It’s a very relaxed capital with a few sights to see, some pampering and tasty food. It is not my favourite place in Laos, but it is a good place to spend a few days. I didn’t feel like I had to rush to do anything here.
The story of the Buddha at Phra Thatluang.
There are more lovely temples to see in Vientiane. It’s hard to believe that I am not sick of them yet, especially how quickly I fatigued on churches in Europe. Often, the beautiful art in temples is quite different from one place to the next. That was the case at the Vat Sisket temple. The temple has thousands of Buddhas that range from being mere millimetres tall, to large statues that are bigger than me. They even showcase images that had been looted and vandalised. There is a small space with hundreds of head-less Buddhas. They were quite a sight. Across town at Phra Thatluang, there is an amazing golden stupa, a giant reclining Buddha (although I have seen bigger, wink wink) and a temple with the story of the Buddha painted in amazing vivid colour on the roof. We explored these areas with very few people around; just some monks working and cleaning.
Vat Siskatek.
I also went to visit two very different museums. One, a national museum charted the history of the country of Laos. Being a communist country, the place is home to some serious pro-communism propaganda. But it charts the country’s history from pre-history until now. There’s Another museum, which is much more focused. The ‘COPE’ centre is a place where local victims of UXOs (unexploded ordinances) can go for help in funding prosthetic limbs. In the 1950s and 60s the United States undertook an intense bombing campaign of Laos. Even today it stands as the most bombs dropped on any country per capita in the world. The bombs that were dropped contained smaller bombs called ‘bombies’. Many of these are still unexploded in the earth of Laos and many people accidentally detonate them, losing limbs or their lives in the process. The story is sad, but it is one with hope for a better future. Of course, when I watched the films about the little boy who lost his life accidentally picking up a bombie, saw the story about the man who lost his sight after unknowingly lighting a fire right over one, and read about the woman who lost her legs collecting scrap metal to survive, I was deeply affected. Like in many museums before it, I cried. However the museum itself is a surprisingly sunny place. Here, they focus on the resilience of the people and the work that organisations do to clear the areas too and that is the story they want you to walk away with.
COPE.
I also took the chance to indulge while I was here with some of the remainder of my budget. I ate amazing food like laab, traditional Laotian mice and vegetables and even French food (which is popular here after Laos colonial past). I drank too many happy hour cocktails. I wandered around markets on the Mekong and people watched. But my favourite piece of indulgence was a 3 hour beauty session I did at a local spa. I got a steam, scrub, mud wrap, facial, massage and milk bath for about a quarter of what I would pay in Australia. It was great, except that the woman who did the session with me giggled a lot and considering how nude I was, that was a bit off-putting.
So as the sun sets on my time in Asia, my trip and the year I am reflecting on what I’ve seen and experienced. I’ve updated my ‘about me‘ to reflect this. Thanks for sharing my trip with me.
Ali's adventure 