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Published: March 10th 2009
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Vientiane was a winner from the start. Maybe it was departing from a 9 hour bus trip filled with people throwing up all over the place or maybe it was Vientiane itself. It's hard to say.
Vientiane is a lazy capital that sits along the Mekong River looking over at Thailand. It is the most laid back capital city I have ever seen. I am starting to figure out that in Laos you need to slow down, relax and enjoy life for what it is. This point was brought to light while I was wandering around the city. I went to see the Pha That Luang, which is a famed stupa in Laos. Buddha's breastbone was supposedly buried here. While walking up to it, there was a rather large empty parking lot next door with a building that could be best described as Art Deco meets Lao Architecture style. Thinking it was a failed mall, I decided to skip exploring it and went home. Later in the week while reading the paper, I saw the building was really the National Assembly of Laos. It was a Thursday and no one was there. Work is overrated and the Laotians seem to
Beer Lao
Sunset along the Mekong understand this from the top down.
The people of Laos embrace the low key lifestyle. Always relaxed, ready to great you with a sabaai-dii (hello) and a smile. It's affectations slowly start to take control. You find yourself slowing down to its charm. Suddenly you find yourself laying down on a shack floor out above the Mekong River. You are laying with a pillow and someone has brought you a fan and a Beer Lao. It is peaceful, it is serene, but you have no clue how long you have actually been there. You do remember that it was light outside when you first arrived and the lights from Thai houses now dot the horizon. Three days later you find yourself in the same position. You start to wonder if you have actually ever left the restaurant or have you simply slept along the riverside. Such is life in Laos. I have been in Vientiane for almost a week and I am not sure when I will get around to leaving. Maybe this restaurant sells bus tickets that pick you up from the deck. That would be sweet.
Wats abound the city of Vientiane but after Luang Prabang,
I was a little worn out with them. There was a Buddha park that intrigued me so I went to the bus station and attempted to do as the locals do. It was a lot easier than I thought. Being one of the few foreigners there, everyone was quick to help me out. They got on me on the right bus and I felt very grateful. Unfortunately the bus didn't seem to be going anywhere. I could read what I assumed to be departure times and noticed that we were well beyond the 10:05 scheduled time. Apparently the buses do not leave until they are full. Full is a relative term to each driver. In the case of our driver, full didn't mean that every seat was taken. After some gesturing and demands, he managed to get people to triple up on seats and fill the entire aisle. For those of you that like to pack a lot of things into small spaces, you would have been amazed by the driver. He was an artist when it came to filling gaps. With a bus of 22 seats, we managed to squeeze in 49 people. The complete lack of reaction or
complaining from the people impressed me the most. You can't be bothered by things in Laos. Take it from them.
Being the token foreigner, I quickly became the object of everyone's interest. Everyone was asking me where I was going ("Where you go?" seems to be spoken by everyone in SE Asia) and made sure that I got to the right spot. A mother kept trying to get her baby to say hello to me but the baby was having nothing of it. A kid got sick on the bus (I am starting to see a poor trend on my bus travels) and everyone made sure that I was out of the way and adjusted accordingly. When I finally arrived at the Buddha park, they all said goodbye to me. It was rather endearing in an odd way.
Not nearly as odd as the Buddha Park. Apparently some guy wanted to create a park filled with statues dedicated to Buddhism. In the middle of nowhere lies this curious man's dream. The park itself is surreal. Statues of the weirdest kind are laying and standing along the Mekong. There were pigs stepping on men, creatures with sinister smiles and
A Rabbit?
Why is this in the Buddha Park there was the rabbit.
A Rabbit?
That's right, in the middle of this carved stone emporium was a rabbit. I have never heard of a rabbit or seen a rabbit in the Buddha's stories or wats. It caught me of guard and to be honest it creeped me out a bit. There were no signs explaining anything either which added to the mysterious bunny. It reminded of the bunny from Monte Python's Holy Grail. Scary indeed.
Vientiane seems clearly tied to it's French past. Old dilapidated French colonial buildings attempting to fight off the onslaught of tropical vegetation dot the main roads of the city . It was strange to walk down the streets and see buildings and landscapes that immediately reminded me of New Orleans.
Luckily there were no poor boys around at lunchtime and instead I was surrounded by pork laab and fish soups.
Of course I could easily figure out I wasn't in New Orleans if I listened to the music. I am not sure if restaurants and tourist places are trying to cater to foreigners by playing American music, but there must be some explanation for it. I have never heard Richard
French Colonial
New Orleans or Vientiane? Marx as much I have this past week. I confidently believe that I could sing along to the entire soundtrack of Ghost. And then there is Celine. When you find yourself hoping that the person controlling the stereo will mix things up a bit and play the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack, you know that something isn't right. Some things need to explained. Then again, I am in Laos, I can't be bothered.
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Jen
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Sounds like this is where we should come find you when you don't arrive in August, eh? Just reading this entry I felt my blood pressure decrease. Can I join you?