Jan 23rd to 24th - Vientiane, Laos

Jan 23^rd to 24^th - Vientiane, Laos

View of part of the Buddha Park from the top of the pumpkin

The 23^rd was a bit of a nothing day.  We had the morning and some of the afternoon in Phnom Penh as free time and were being picked up at 3.15pm for the airport where we had a 6pm flight to Vientiane in Laos.  Our original plan had been to go to the market to buy our gap year trousers, but Kim was feeling very unwell and hadn’t really slept much the previous night.  As it was so hot and humid I was quite happy not to be venturing outside, so C negotiated us a check out time of noon and we stayed in our air conditioned rooms instead and caught up on reading and the blog.  We had lunch in the attached boulangerie and then headed off to the airport.  We had some hanging about at the airport but our flight was uneventful and we landed at 7.15pm.  Although we were seated near the back of the plane, we somehow ended up almost last in the visa queue, but at least we sailed through immigration and our luggage was obviously visible as they were the only 3 bags left.  We met our guide and driver and had a 10 minute drive to our hotel, the Villa Salana, which is one of the most highly rated ones in Vientiane.  Kim got upgraded to a deluxe room, but I think we ended up with the better deal as were away from the lifts and the main road and looked over a temple complex.  We had

A bit more pointy with the left toe.......?

a quick drink and bite to eat in the bar and then went to bed quite early as were all a bit tired.

We were being picked up at 8.30am on the 24^th, so after an amazing breakfast with a huge selection of food, we were ready.  It was a real shock going outside as it was really cold – not what we were expecting at all!! 

Chris - on route to Hell via the Devil's mouth

Our 1^st stop was about 25 kilometres outside of the city and is called Wat Xieng Khuan or the Buddha Park.  It’s actually a famous sculpture park built in the 1950’s and is based on the visions of a monk who studied both Hinduism and Buddhism.  There are many different statues of various sizes including a 40 metre high reclining Buddha plus an extraordinary pumpkin with a tree of life on top which you enter via a devil’s mouth.  It has 3 storeys – the bottom one representing hell, the middle one is earth and the top one is heaven.  You can clamber up through the pumpkin via very steep and narrow steps and get a superb view of the park from the top.

Rice planters

We retraced our steps back into town and stopped off on route to watch some people planting up the rice paddys.  Our guide, who came from a farming family, told us it’s back breaking work and very hard on the skin standing in water all day.  There’s also the added danger of snakes in the water - the angry snake is yellow and black striped and had a harmless bite but was aggressive and there are also cobras which are black and swim very slowly and purposefully.

Wat Luang

The happy couple

Our  1^st stop in town was Wat Luang, the holiest Buddhist monument in the country.  It is dominated by a huge golden stupa set on 3 different platform levels also painted gold.  You simply can’t miss it.  We parked up and realised it’s actually surrounded by many very brightly painted temples which we can only describe as “blingtastic”.  We walked past the temples and through an intricate archway to get to Wat Luang which is actually surrounded by a high wall which has cloisters the other side of it and then grass with the stupa in the middle of it all.  We had to walk clockwise round it as to do it the other way is unlucky.  We came across a bride and groom who actually looked happy, unlike their Cambodian counterparts, who allowed us to take their photo.  Close up, the golden paint is flakey and peeling and not at all impressive, but the 4 temples on each side were full of worshippers who clearly revered the site.  The original stupa was built in 1566, but has had many reincarnations since.  The French did major restoration work in the early 1900’s, but it was rebuilt in 1930 as many Laos people disapproved of the work done by the French.

Blingtastic!!

Patuxai

Our last stop before lunch was Patuxai or the Arc de Triomphe set on a major road complex with the Presidential Palace at the far end.  It was built by the former regime in memory of those who died in the wars before the communist takeover, but the cement ran out before it was completed.  So, concrete was then diverted from a gift from the USA meant to expand the airport and the monument was finally completed in 1969.  We wanted to go to the top of the monument so duly climbed up quite a few stairs and came across a surprisingly large number of shops on one level within the monument before getting to the top where we had a bird’s eye view of the city.

Next stop was lunch at a restaurant just round the corner from our hotel which was a training establishment for young disadvantaged people.  The food was amazingly good and we stuffed ourselves!

The Buddhas in the cloisters

After lunch, we visited Wat Sisaket, which is the oldest building in Vientiane as it was spared sacking by the victorious Thais in 1827 as the Thai king actually used it as is base.  The temple is set in another lovely cloistered courtyard.  The cloisters house a huge number of Buddhas which are most impressive and varied made mostly of bronze, sandstone or wood.  We weren’t allowed to take any photos inside the temple itself, but it had a huge vaulted wooden ceiling which looked almost Tudor.  The top half of the walls were full of Buddha filled niches (apparently 2052) and the lower half had the remains of faded paintings of scenes for the Buddha’s life. 

Wat Sisaket - the temple set within the cloisters

We then crossed the road outside the temple to go and peer through the gates at the President’s impressive modern looking residence.  Just opposite Wat Sisaket is Wat Phra Kaeo, which houses the emerald Buddha.  We stood in the gardens looking at the building currently under conservation so all we could see was the newly renovated roof as the sides of it were covered in scaffolding and flapping pieces of cloth and plastic.

Out tour then ended and we were dropped off at the hotel.  After a short break, we braved the cold weather again to visit the night market which consisted of a large number of stalls mostly selling tat.   None of us were tempted to buy anything so retired to a Belgian pub which sold an enormous selection of expensive Belgian beers.   We all had the local Lao beer which is very good plus some chips and the weirdest chicken kebab ever which was a couple of bits of chicken, some limp lettuce and soggy chips wrapped up in a flour wrap and was disgusting.  We got chatting to a very nice Belgian couple and chatted about our travels and the influx of migrants into Europe amongst other things.