As I said in a previous blog, Vientiane was a rather unknown quality when I was planning my trip. I knew I had to transit through the city, as all buses in the region start and terminate there. But I also knew there was very few attractions stated in the guide book, and had heard from many people that it was not worth visiting.
Well, perhaps because I had no expectations, and perhaps because it was so different to Vang Vieng where I was previously, I genuinely liked Vientiane, or to give it a more accurate name, Viengkhan. I liked that there was plenty of wats and museums to see and photograph, but nothing unmissable that would make you feel guilty if you instead spent an afternoon in a cafe. It also gave Niko and I our first glimpse of actual local Laos people; people who would talk to you without expecting or demanding money. It was incredibly refreshing after spending eight days on the tourist trail to find ourselves suddenly off it.
The first night, after the disappointment of realising my phone was going to stay broken for a few more days, we did very little other than wander around a little, eat some Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup), and then spend some time internetting in an ice cream parlour along the road. Bliss.
The next day, we got down to business, with Niko seemingly intent on visiting every city attraction in one day. I personally would have preferred a late start with breakfast, then some elevenses, before moving onto a brunch and then lunch. I was having stomach troubles, and therefore was constantly hungry. But nope, we are instead out before 10.00am into the hot, humidity looking at yet more wats.
Damn you Niko, I was lazy before you came along.
First up was Wat Mixay, where...’thar be dragons’
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| I particularly liked the blue here. |
Then there was Wat Ong Teu, where my boredom was really getting the better of me, as I forgot to photograph the sim but did fixate on some naga scales.
I had really seen too many wats...
Sadly, next up was Wat Hai Sok, where again my attention wondered, but did produce some interesting photos.
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| More dragons. |
Again, pictures of the sim were forgotten. I’m reasoning you’ve probably seen enough by now anyway.
Then we moved onto the National Museum of Laos, which was more amusing than educational, but still worth a visit without a doubt, and is the subject of the previous blog.
Go on, check it out, this blog will still be here when you’re done ;)
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| Add caption |
By this point, I was hot and my behaviour was fairly similar to that of a five year old petulant toddler. So we took refuge in a cafe for an hour before heading on. I had bagels and soup. It was good. So I ordered more bagels and more soup. It was still good.
I briefly spotted the Patuxai victory monument from afar, but did never make it to see the monument up close.
Niko visited it the following day, and said up close it was an overpriced, crumbling wreck, so no loss there.
From this viewpoint, it was on to Wat Sisaket, which I had planned to be equally dismissive of, due to temple fatigue and general grumpy toddler-ness.
However, I had to admit this wat was a little more special than the others..
The most striking features were under the eaves of the roofed cloisters, where there sat in the stillness and dust dozens and dozens of Buddha images in seated rows. Mounted behind them in small alcoves in the walls sat pairs of miniature images, their bronze and gold features glowing in the dull light. It was another of those places where, upon seeing these many hundreds of serene faces benignly smiling down upon you, I felt an immediate sensation of peace and tranquility.
Buddhist temples may yet make a theist out of me…
After exploring this beautiful temple, we decided that we couldn’t face anymore walking around in the heat, so we crossed our fingers and bargained with a tuk-tuk to take us the several kilometres to our final city attraction; Wat That Luang.
Wat That Luang was...big and gold. There is not much more to say. We saw it from the outside, and it was big, gold and pointy, and when we paid to go inside the temple grounds, it was...equally big, gold and pointy.
Outside of the chedi complex, there was a wizard on a podium; we never did find out who he was…
After a full day of exploring, I retreated back to the hostel, and did very little with my evening, except when I briefly left to buy overpriced sushi. Yummy.
...
The following day, I had seen and done enough, so I decided to have a day off from travelling whilst Niko explored the Buddha Park by himself.
I started my day in the early afternoon with this:
After a few hours of internetting and napping, my day continued with this:
And then for pudding, this:
In the evening, we headed out for drinks, having bumped into our friend Laura from Luang Prabang, and I had this:
It was a good day, and whilst I felt bad at the time, I believe every long term traveller needs the occasional day off when they don’t have to haggle with recalcitrant tuk-tuk drivers, and don’t have to withstand the heat and humidity that hangs in the area in temples and museums. Everyone needs a lazy day occasionally :)
DSP
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