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Published: August 21st 2006
Given our short time left we weren't able to travel overland. We flew into Laos from Siem Reap, Cambodia. Our flight on Laos Airways (the only airline that flies from Siem Reap into Laos) was quite the experience. We'd read a lot about how the airline doesn't publish safety records and that it's rumoured the pilots land by sight. However, we read an equal amout of literature saying the major routes into cities are perfectly safe and it's just the rural flights you have to be wary of. The flight itself was absolutely perfect, although Nathan and I completely freaked ourselves out by reading, just before takeoff, that "Laos Airlines has yet to pass any international standards for safety." Nathan literally broke into a sweat and we were laughing so hard from the sheer absurdity of it all. Especially the flight attendant's "safety demonstration" which involved her pointing to the exits and nothing more. Yep, no oxygen masks or life vests on this flight! Not even the standard seatbelt demonstration. Near the end, the ceiling starting dripping from condensation and we had to perform our own little maintenance work in keeping it dry. The cockpit door also kept swinging open during
the flight. We were dying of laughter by this point which actually helped calm our nerves. Nathan is convinced that the pilot landed by sight, given the number of turns and the fact that he appeared to be trying to find a hole in the clouds through which to land; I prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of the landing. Everything was smooth sailing and we arrived in Vientiane without any problems whatsoever. Oh wait. Until our taxi broke down about ten feet from the airport. We switched cars and then everything was great.
Vientiane is the capital of Laos and if there was ever a sleepy little town, this is it. I'd venture to say this is practically a ghost town. We haven't even seen that many other travellers. The Laos people here are absolutely wonderful and generous. We haven't been harassed to buy anything like we were elsewhere in southeast Asia. Even the market, where haggling is the name of the game in Asia, was pleasant to stroll through without being bothered once. That said, there isn't a heck of a lot going on in Vientiane. We came here mostly for Buddha Park, which Nathan has been obsessed
with since reading about it in our guidebooks. We hired a tuk tuk driver to take us out to the park which was about a 40 minute dusty and bumpy ride outside of the city. The state of the roads in Laos is unbelievable. Hell, the 401 is paved with gold in comparison! The drive was amazing, however, as we drove through some very small towns and got to see daily Laos life.
Buddha Park is exactly what it sounds like. A very pretty green space filled with hundreds of massive Buddha statues and sculptures, including the third largest Buddha in the world (don't ask where the two bigger ones are; no one seems to know). It's so large, you can climb up on top of him for pictures. It appears that the park is slowly becoming more of a tourist attraction but there is basically no literature about the park. We're unsure of how it came to be or what a lot of the monuments mean but everything was wonderfully unique and beautiful. And peaceful. It was a great place to relax a bit although the humidity started to get to us (well, to Anne-Marie) after awhile.
On our way back to town we stopped at Wat Si Saket, a small temple that houses nearly 7000 buddhas. It wasn't an overly impressive temple (can anything really beat Angkor Wat?) but the coolest part about it was the thousands of teeny little Buddha statues sitting in the carved out walls. Floor to ceiling, on all four walls, thousands of these just stare down on you.
Tomorrow we're off to Vang Vieng on what we've heard is a horrific bus ride. Can't wait!
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Amy
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Anne-Marie!
I'm finally getting around to reading your blog entries (bar exam craziness, then traveling myself) - I'm enjoying them so much! First, what AMAZING pictures in this most recent entry - wow. Second, the shoes! And the clothes! I am beside myself with jealousy over your new custom wardrobe. Third, I loved your badminton story. I had a similar experience myself playing soccer in a little village when I was traveling in Costa Rica years and years ago, and I'd still rank it as one of the best hours of my life. I'm so glad that you and Nathan are having such a wonderful time! I look forward to seeing you at the wedding in September.