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Published: December 22nd 2010
A lovely day
in lovely LaosOK, we booked early for the decent bus from LP to our next destination Vang Vieng. Unfortunately what this meant in practice was that we had two seats in front of a huge glass window right at that the front of the top deck of a bus driven by an Asian bus driver, through small, windy mountain roads while the rain was hammering down, nicely slickening the already miniscule amount of tarmac on the roads. It was a long 6 hours. Having said that, the views of the mountains, even through the clouds and the rain, were amazing and the driver was kind enough to try to get us even closer on a few occasions!!
We arrived in Vang Vieng and, true to Asian form (the Thais run most of the businesses here after all), they had moved the perfectly good, centrally located bus station in the centre of town, to the ‘Northern’ bus terminal some 3Km out, complete with the Asian Tuk-Tuk mafia. We found some cheap digs that would suffice for a few nights and set off to have a walk around town. ‘Town’ consists of lots and lots of bars, restaurants, hotels and guesthouses catering, almost exclusively
to a young western clientele, here to indulge in cheap drinks and ‘happy’ pizzas. Barely more than 1Km long it used to be a town with a lazy country atmosphere, frequented by backpackers, now it’s more like Panama City during spring break or Ko Pha Ngan at full moon. There is a lot of rubbish talked about ‘oh it’s lost all its charm’, and ‘why did they have to change it so much’. Progress - it’s that simple. Laos is a very, very poor country whose main hope of salvation in the short term is tourism so we in the privileged west should really think twice before suggesting that the locals remain living in bamboo huts, eeking a living by working themselves to an early grave in the rice fields in order that we have a much more rustic view from out of our air-conditioned hotel window. Vang Vieng is brash, loud and I’d have loved it if I was still 21. Even now it’s great to have the chance to indulge in a bit of Wwstern pub grub for a while.
Vang Vieng’s main current claim to fame is ‘tubing’. This past time consists of getting dropped off
The Lady Cave
wonder where that name came from? about 3Km up the Nam Xong river and slowly floating down for a few hours getting lost in the wonderful scenery, the huge limestone karst mountains that should really be the focus of the areas tourism. Unfortunately, for most, tubing now means getting in your tractor tyre, floating to the first of the makeshift bars that have sprouted up along the riverbank, getting out, then drinking and partying the rest of the day away on buckets of rice spirit and coke. Oh and while hammered jumping off of rope swings and hoping not to break a leg in the shallow part of the river. As getting older means getting more brittle bones, we decided to give that a miss. At the moment the river is also filthy, full of brown sludge and silt, we were told caused by some damming going on further up river, it would a shame if this isn’t sorted out because VV needs the tourist income.
What we did do while there was hire a moto and go off to explore some of the beautiful surrounding countryside. We found our way to the Phou Kham Cave, and boy was that worth it. We pulled up
Frog Rock
or is it a toad? at a lovely little lagoon at the base of one of the karsts then made the steep climb up (remembering our torch) to the small entrance and entered. The first sight as your eyes adjust is quite amazing, the stalactites (and mites) show the age of the cave and the amazing shapes the water and minerals have made through the millennia is quite spooky. But that was only the start, the cave goes deeper and deeper into the mountain. There’s no easy tourist path, a few arrows painted on large boulders point to the ‘easy’ way but it’s dark and slippery (health and safety fanatics would have a heart attack), but when you get to the second chamber then the sheer enormity of it takes your breath away. Having to use torches you can only guess at the real scale and still the series of chambers goes further than we were willing to brave with flip flops & an Argos head torch. One day hopefully, proper managed tourism can not only offer long term income to the Laos but offer affluent tourists a reason to stop in VV. It really is another one of nature’s beautiful gifts that should be
Nope you're right
We cant say 'can you take our picture' in Laos appreciated by as many as possible. An added bonus is the river or ‘Blue lagoon’ just outside the cave. A great spot to lie, relax, soak up the sun and think about the snow in England then jump into the very deep and almost glacial water when you want to remind yourself of what you’re missing ;-)
Time to move on; Vang Vieng has been a fun couple of days and if the river was clean would be worth a longer stay but the capital beckons. A short (for Asia) minibus trip brought us to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Blisteringly hot when we arrived, the first couple of places we tried to book in were full, oh dear, but we are entering Asia’s prime tourism season I suppose. So we decided to look for the budget options and after a couple of ‘not in this lifetime’ places we found a nice clean budget option with WiFi and HBO. As soon as you start to look around you quickly see where Laos main influence comes from, ‘Le Petit Canard’, ‘Le Cave de la Maison’, ‘Le Double le Price’, ‘Le KFC’. You get the picture.
Vientiane has quite a
turbulent history. There has been a settlement here since the 8th century and has been occupied and abandoned by the Khmer and the Mon before King Setthatilat moved his capital here from Luang Prabang in 1560. The name means ‘The Settlement with a Sandalwood Stockade’ and its rampart builders were a bit like western banking regulators; rubbish. It was overrun or occupied at various times by the Burmese, Chinese and most spectacularly by the Siamese, who sacked the city as a punishment for something or another. At least today’s Thai takeover is purely economic (for the moment). The French arrived in 1867 and within a few decades controlled most of what is now Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. There are very few architectural reminders of this Gallic past, certainly when compared to capitals like Saigon, perhaps indicating that the French presence here wasn’t all that strong. Which makes one wonder if the capital’s current fixation with all things Francais is more of a marketing ploy than a lifestyle choice; it certainly allows them to treble the prices!
We decided not to change our Laos habits and explored the city on foot. Most of it is unremarkable, the new promenade being
completed will certainly provide a lovely area to relax by the Mekong, shame they are putting a road between it and the river. We wandered through the city to visit the two main temples. Wat Simuang was built on the site of an ancient Khmer site, the laterite ruins are in the back yard. It a curious mix of beauty & gaudy, of delicate wooden carvings and plastic Buddhas. Parts of the sim have been sympathetically maintained but probably the most interesting part of the temple is watching the devotees seeking answers or favours. Some of the carvings in the gardens are outstanding. As we were walking outside lovely Laos surprised us yet again when flying past our head was a baby black gibbon. Not tied up just messing around and playing like a naughty child. One minute it was hiding under a table playing with the two small kittens and the next it was swinging on the roof of a food stall trying to nick the bananas. We paid a small fortune to try to see one of these in the north of the country and here was one of the little beauties right in the heart of the
Converted?
Might be a lost cause SIr Ted capital. What a great surprise.
On to our final Laos temple, Wat Sisaket and well, it was underwhelming. We try to see the good or exciting bits in everywhere we visit but it’s probably because we’ve been lucky enough to see some marvels that mere ordinary can’t get the juices flowing. However, our travelling companion, Sir Tedmund, found something to do as he tried to convert the Buddha to Xmas!
We then walked the couple of miles to visit Patouxai, which apparently aspires to be the Laos Arc de Triomphe. It looks nice from a distance but when you get up close, it’s a fairly garrish concrete and cement arch with a few nice redeeming features. Worth a look but that’s really all. Onward then to Laos’s most important religious building and its national symbol, the Buddhist Stupa of That Louang. The modern building stands on the top of a small hill and dates from the 1930’s but like most temples has a number of predecessors. The golden spire is 45m tall and rests on a plinth of stylized lotus petals. Around the stupa are a number of newer and beautifully decorated buildings, unfortunately all closed, but impressive
The national symbol
now with added attraction enough from the outside to suggest if you are visiting the capital, then don’t miss it.
On our last day in Laos we headed off to the best known tourist spot in the capital, the Buddha Park. The rather ironic story behind this place is the creator, Louang Pou Bounleua Soulilat, a self styled holy man who claimed to have been a disciple of a cave dwelling Hindu hermit in Vietnam. When he returned to Laos in the 50’s he built the sculptures to spread his philosophy of life. After the revolution, the government forced him to flee across the Mekong to Nong Khai. The irony arrived when the government chose his sculptures as the symbol of their ‘Visit Laos Year’ campaign. The sculptures are certainly memorable, the meaning was lost on us but the sheer scale of some of the creations deserves credit in itself. Everyone in the park seemed to be having a good time emulating some of the bizarre poses of the statues (we are embarrassed to say that we were among them), but the feeling inspired by these figures is one of fun and not reverence. Not what its creator envisaged unfortunately.
Well here
Future Tuk Tuk drivers
not the sharp implement we are, at the end of our long, slow journey through lovely Laos. Is it lovely? Yes, it is. The people are so very laid back and friendly and the pace of life is infectious. Is it changing? Again yes, and quickly. Buildings are springing up everywhere and even in the remotest villages some progress seems to be happening. Is it cheap? No. We’re not sure of the reasons, maybe the cost of importing things from Thailand but often we found ourselves being asked to pay more for a room or a ride than we paid in New York or Sydney. This is plain dumb, tourism can save Laos but greed can kill that goose long before it has the chance to lay its golden egg. (Note for any Laos readers, all westerners are not filthy rich investment bankers). But naiveté not withstanding it’s a lovely country to spend time in and lovely people to spend time with. For us though, the journey continues and we are both looking forward to crossing the Mekong and rejoining the 1st World.
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