Vientiane Day One

The chanting started at 4.15am. It was just as well that I was up at 4.00. 

Jet-lagged body-time 8.00. 

Went on the balcony to see a wonderful start to the day. Devotees were stretched 

along the pavement outside the hotel giving food to a passing parade of monks. 

The street lighting added to the fabulous saffron colour.

Breakfast at the hotel was great. 

Then we hired a car to go to Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan) about forty minutes away 

on the banks of the Mekong. The drive was bumpy and incredibly dusty.

 Along the road were many small out-door cafes. 

Would you like a mouth-full of dust with that sir?

The Park was built in 1958 by an eccentric mystic, Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat. 

So it is one man’s vision. And his vision was a little odd.

The Park is a bizarre collection of huge concrete sculptures of both Hindu and 

Buddhist gods interspersed with peculiar creatures.

It looks like the same model was used for every statue as they all have the same 

large disproportionate nose. Lots of peculiar Kodak moments. 

At the Park were hordes of school children who wanted to practice their English. 

I left Omar to be a teacher while I wandered around documenting the weirdness.

We drove back via the Pha That Luang. It is the national symbol of Laos and 

the most  important religious monument in the country.

 It is a three-layered gilded stupa. You can only access the court-yard and 

walk round it. It opens at 1.00pm but there was a delay of 15 minutes while 

the gate keeper, an indolent, slothful girl, finished her ice-cream. By then there 

were about 30 people baking in the sun.

Beside That Luang are the Wat That Luang Neua and the Wat That Luang Tai. 

Two temples that were also closed. The area itself is really harsh with acres of glaring pavement. 

Bring your sunglasses.

We drove back to the hotel and dropped into a local cafe for an assortment of dishes 

that had us guessing. Time for a nanny-nap and a read while we prepared for tomorrows

meeting. Later we went to Asmara for dinner. Asmara is a beautiful French Colonial building

that has been turned into an up-market hotel and restaurant. The food is very cheap in 

Vientiane. Lunch for two was about $US8.00 and dinner with wine was a steep $US40.00 

for two and so far the quality is great.

And after fighting off the mosquitoes we went to bed.

On the road to Vientiane

Can someone please tow Australia closer to the rest of the world? 

Yesterday started with a midnight cab ride to Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne. 

Then a sleepover on the plane to Singapore.

Sunrise saw us on the way to Bangkok and lunch was eaten in-flight to Vientiane, Laos. 

So sixteen hours after leaving home we pulled up in front of the Salana Hotel. 

We are on the top floor with great views across the city and the mighty Mekong River.

Except the mighty Mekong River is just a trickle in a vast river bed.

We decided to check out the surrounding streets and found we were in the middle of

a street cafe restaurant area. Some even had the menu items alive to choose from.

Anyone for frog?

It’s hot but not as muggy as Bangkok and but a cool drink was called for. 

There are a lot of French restaurants around: a hangover from the French colonial days and we 

chose one just around the corner, Le Vendome. The food was great and we had an interesting time 

talking to another Australia couple who were on their first Asian tour. She was sported a compound 

fracture of the shoulder after falling off a bike in a rice paddy in Vietnam. What a trooper.

After dinner we strolled to the Saturday Night Market on the banks of the dried river. 

It was very much a local scene with lots of colour and music.

On the way back to the hotel we struck another conversation with a French doctor who was on 

R&R from a leper colony. After we had shaken hands she told us not to worry about contagion. 

I hadn’t until she said that.

 Finally after a very long day, time to sleep.