29-31 December 2017
It's 12 years later and I do not recognise Vientiane at all. It is, obviously, a lot more modern, but is still very rural. There is a wat or a stupa around almost every corner. On our street alone, there are at least three wats, one of which is right beside the old house where we are staying.
Our guesthouse, Lani's House By The Ponds (- truthfully, the photos look a lot better than the actual place, and the breakfast is overrated, but it isn't a bad place to stay), is right beside this wat, which I think is Vat Hai Sok and, every time I pass by, its roof has me mezmerised.
The colonial houses are harder to spot now. Some of them have been given facelifts, while others are obscured by newer, nondescript buildings.
I ask the Filipino receptionist at our guesthouse for a lunch recommendation. He says Khop Chai Deu Bar Restaurant is popular. It is on our street and is conveniently located next to Green Discovery Tours, which I have to visit since I've contracted them for private transfers to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang.
When we get there, Nicolas points out the lifesize cardboard cutout of a blonde in a drindl serving Beerlao. Tourist trap much? (I find out later that Green Discovery Tours and the restaurant are sister companies.)
VIENTIANE HOT TIP: When ordering food in Vientiane, ask for "no chilli". "No spicy" and "less spicy" do not work because what is not spicy to a Laoatian is still enough to cause you to spontaneously combust. Then again, without the chilli, the food can be bland so, if you can manage to be understood, you might want to ask for some chilli dipping sauce on the side. The grilled stuff is always a safe bet and, yes, it comes with the chilli dipping sauce on the side.
Grilling at the night market.
Sticky rice: a must with every meal.
After Nicolas' lunch set his internal organs on fire, he heads back to the guesthouse to question his life choices. (I'm kidding, he had a siesta). I had the grilled spareribs with sticky rice and a Lao salad so I feel good and have a wander about.
There are a lot of spas offering authentic Laoatian massage. Now my memories of Laoatian massages aren't very good, but I am a sucker for punishment so I sign up for one. It turns out to be surprisingly good and, even more surprisingly, Thai. I suspect that the Lao people have realised that their massages are rubbish and have either hired Thai masseuses or paid for Thai massage lessons.
I poke about the side streets looking for some retail therapy at those wonderful boutiques of yore. One of them, Mixay Boutic, is still around but, now, it looks more like a stockroom rather than a boutique, and everything seems to be either orange or red so I leave quickly before their color scheme can induce an epileptic seizure.
The only shop I find worth mentioning is Her Works. Thankfully, I don't find anything that I absolutely must buy as I had forgotten how expensive Laos can be. Later, Nicolas tells me that, before reaching our guesthouse, he wandered into an antique shop where he was quoted a three-figure US dollar price for a piece of painted wood.
Every evening, by the riverside, there is a night market that starts at 5 PM. Sadly, most of the stalls are crammed with generic, cheap merchandise from China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The market is still worth a visit though because of all the food choices. This is where I learn that a request for "no spicy" can still turn you into a fire-breathing dragon. A lot of Coca-Cola is consumed.
Across the market, there is a store called Walkman Village. There are a few of them around town, apparently. There is nothing exotic about it, except that it has about two floors crammed with modern clothes and shoes. Nicolas wisely steers me out before I purchase winter coats that I do not need.
IMPORTANT LAOS TIP: If you find anything that you like in Vientiane or Vang Vieng, buy it already, because it will surely cost double in Luang Prabang. I bought an... erm... "item of clothing" in Vientiane for 38,000 kip, and it was being sold for 75,000 kip in LP. In Vang Vieng, the dress that I got for 100,000 kip - around $12 - was being sold for US$59 at a boutique.
Yes, there are ATMs too and they work!
The next day, armed with this map, and another one that I no longer have:
... we decide to explore Vientiane on foot. We don't get very far because it is too damned hot. We hail a tuktuk and I show the driver on the map where we want to go. He agrees to take us for 200,000 kip. We haggle him down to 150k.
Our tuktuk driver.
Here are the photos:
It looks like the That Dam Stupa (Black Stupa) needs a bit of a trim.
Lao's very own Arc de Triomphe, Patuxai (which is the Lao word for "Arc de Triomphe") was built to honor those who fought for independence from the French.
Lao designs on the ceiling of the arc.
The view from the top.
There are a lot of stuff being sold inside the monument, like...
Har. And, no, I didn't get one.
Pha That Luang, the most important national monument and the national symbol of Laos, it is believed to contain the breastbone of Buddha.
We probably should have gone inside, seeing as we were already there, but Nicolas didn't want to take off his shoes so we hung around outside drinking coconut water and taking photos of the surrounding edifices.
TEMPLE TIP: When traveling to a Buddhist country and you plan to visit some temples, wear flip flops or shoes that you can easily get in and out of. (No, not Crocs.) And have some socks ready, just in case it is too hot or too gross to walk on the grounds barefoot. (I am assuming that you know that your legs and shoulders should also be covered.)
I distinctly remember this wat and the next from our visit in 2005. I remember noticing how different the Buddhist temples here were from the ones I had seen in other countries before.
The Presidential Palace is right next to Haw Phra Kaew.
My favourite temple in Vientiane.
The naga is a serpent god. These mythical creatures are believed to have come from the Lao stretch of the Mekong River.
According to our map, there is another wat that we have to see but, when we get there, we realise we are all watted out and can't be bothered to leave the tuktuk. We are ready for lunch so we ask the driver to take us to a restaurant that we had passed at the start of our tour.
Random wattage along the road.
OTHER SITES TO SEE: If we weren't so darned lazy on the day we arrived, we should have checked out the day market. I am still unsure if I want to check out Buddha Park. It is 25 km. outside Vientiane and has more than 200 Buddha sculptures. (Probably not.)
I had read earlier that this was a popular restaurant, which was why I wanted to try it. When we get inside, however, I immediately recognise it as the place where Sue, Deb, and I treated ourselves to a nice meal in 2005.
The old Jaguar that is permanently parked at the restaurant.
Because we asked for no chillies, Nicolas found the food bland, while I enjoyed it.
In 2005, there was a show with dinner.
And they did not have the tasting menu yet. According to my Facebook caption on this photo, we found the food bland and preferred the street food.
And the curtains were more colourful.
I bought that dress from one of the boutiques in Vientiane in 2005. I didn't see another boutique like it on this trip.
It's our last night in Vientiane and I want Nicolas to have French food in this former French colony. I decide on a restaurant called L'Adresse - Cuisine by Tinay. He is excited about the cassoulet but, when it turns up, it seems more like a duck confit. He likes it anyway. He also likes my Mekong river fish (a.k.a. a tilapia).
I swoon over the creme brûlée.
So why did I book a stay in Vientiane after my less than stellar recommendation of the capital in 2005? Because I wanted Nicolas to see Vang Vieng and I didn't want him to miss the spectacular views on the way from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang.
RECOMMENDATION FOR ACCOMMODATIONS: I didn't get a chance to check it out but Salana looks good from the outside. It is rather close to the night market though, so you might want to check the online reviews to make sure that the noise doesn't carry all the way to the hotel. It also has a restaurant downstairs that looks promising. It was always empty every time I passed it though, so I don't know if it's because its prices are too high for the average tourist or if it isn't any good.
RECOMMENDATION FOR PRIVATE TRANSFERS: I contacted about four or five different agencies and the cheapest I found was Green Discovery Tours. Cost for two to Vientiane to Vang Vieng (approx. 4 hours) is US$130 and from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang (via the scenic route, approx. 6 hours) is US$180.
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