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Around Vientiane
Patuxai or the Victory GateWe looked around some of the main sights in Vientiane, such as Patuxai or the “Victory Gate” which is the Laos version of the Arc de Triomphe. Patuxai is in the centre of Vientiane and sits in the middle of the main avenue of the city Lang Xang Avenue. This avenue is often referred to as the Champs Elysees of Vientiane. You get a good panoramic view of the city at the top of Patuxai.
The Great Stupa or Pha That Luang is the Laos national symbol. It has undergone many rebuilds and redesigns since it was first established in the third century. It is claimed that the stupa contains a holy relic of the Buddha. It is believed that five monks brought the relic, a breast bone of the Buddha, to Laos. True or not, the stupa surely is an amazing sight.
At one of the surrounding temples there is a bodhi tree that was brought to Vientiane in 2500BC and still happily grows in the temple grounds. The bodhi tree being the tree that Lord Buddha sat beneath to meditate when he reached enlightenment.
We got talking to a young novice monk
Around Vientiane
Patuxai or the Victory Gate at the temple who was working with a group of others cleaning the grounds of the temple. He explained that he was form a rural province to the north of Vientiane and had come to the temple to spend the wet season as a novice. In Theravada Buddhism it is common for males to spend time as a novice at least once before adulthood and again at least once in adult life.
The young novice explained that it was a good chance for him to improve his education, practice his English skills (a lot of tourists visit the temple) and that it was very lucky for his family for him to do this. He told us that he dedicated the merit from his efforts to his parents.
Mid week festivities Following our brief visit to the city we met up with Sai again and took the alternate route back to the village via Ban Hom. Along the way we came across a group of revellers on their way to a rocket festival. The happy group consisted of children, teenagers and adults all travelling to the riverside to let off some rockets. The small festivals are apparently held
Around Vientiane
Patuxai or the Victory Gate in villages throughout the lead up to the wet season as a way of thanking the spirits for the food they have provided and the water that will help to continue to feed them via their rice crops, etc.
The revellers walked alongside the tractor trailer and offered a glass of beer to anyone who wanted to partake. Many of them had painted their faces and teeth black. They seemed like they were having a great time dancing along the dusty road.
Kicking the dust in Ban Hom We didn’t get far down the round when we stopped at a small shop to say hello to some friends of Sai’s who ran the shop. Within a few moments of stopping we were sitting in the shade with more Beer Lao to share, snacks and fruits and a lot of conversation.
As other people passed by and noticed who was sitting under the shade tree they would stop to say hello and have a few beers as well. It did not take long for our little group to swell to about 15 people sitting in the shade n the edge of the road. Everyone did their best
Around Vientiane
Patuxai or the Victory Gate to converse with us falangs, some were able to speak good English others had to resort to hand signals. We had an enjoyable time with this very friendly group.
We were fortunate to meet a young lady named Minou, who was a student at a tri-lingual school in Vientiane. She was fluent in English, Arabic and of course Lao. A very bright and intelligent young lady.
One of the other people that joined us had such a great personality, knew some English, had visited Sydney and Melbourne, plus kept us laughing all afternoon. His/Her name is Tom or Fuhn, depending if you wanted to use her male or female name, she was happy with either. She told us of her experiences while living for a while in Melbourne and how she hoped to return there soon to visit her boyfriend. She was a scream and the life of the party. Nobody in the group seemed bothered by her gender confusion, in Australia it would probably be an issue for some, but not here with these happy, accepting, life loving people. We could learn a lot from their accepting natures.
We sat drinking and laughing as the sun
Around Vientiane
views from the Victory Gate set, by the side of the road in this small village, really savouring the company of the people who had dropped by. We asked one of the guys who could speak good English what he did for a living, his responsed with a Lao word that he said roughly translated to “I am free to kick the dust”, he explained “I am a free man, I used to study a lot and then work in administrative jobs, but now I am free to kick the dust”.
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