Vientiane
I turned around and walked straight out of the first guesthouse that I entered in Vientiane. Peter was just coming through the door, I muttered "maybe I'm wrong about this" to him before turning back around and walking into the lobby again. He gave me a slightly perplexed look but the couples magazines confirmed my suspicion. The girls hanging out on the couch were definitely not maids who clean the rooms. Chris was totally confused but Peter instantly saw what I meant. "No, I think you are right." The hourly room rates were a bit too steep for my budget.
Chris and I went straight for a 2 hour meditation session at Wat Sok Pa Luang, a forest monastery. The following day was spent taking in sights like Pha That Luang, Laos' most important national monument. It is believed that a piece of Buddha's breastbone is enshrined here.
Wat Si Saket was my favorite sight of the day. The oldest temple in Vientiane. This is the only one the Siamese did not destroy back in the 1800s. The temple contains 8000 Buddha sculptures and several beautiful murals. It's a very peaceful place to hang out for a while before heading back out to the city.
Patuxai was a close second to Wat Si Saket. Not because this Arc de Triomphe replica is extraordinarily special but because the Lao government used cement provided to them by the Americans for the construction of an airport to build the thing. It's called 'the vertical runway' by expats. The sign here reads "from a closer distance it appears even less impressive, like a concrete monster".
The Buddha Park at Xieng Khuan was definitely worth the rickety 40 minute ride out of town.
The best part of the Vientiane experience by far was hanging out with Lulu's parents, auntie and cousin. We went for a lovely lunch floating on a houseboat on the Mekong river.
Auntie told me a few stories about buying mangoes for Tuc and falling off her bike. "Tuc very lucky" she would say "so many people do things for her. I tell her she lucky." Everytime Mrs. P did something she would turn to me and say "same Tuc Tic". Come to think of it, they are a lot alike. It didn't take more than a few minutes before Mrs. P had bought a couple of tops at the market and then another few minutes before she was wearing one of them.
Chris and I went straight for a 2 hour meditation session at Wat Sok Pa Luang, a forest monastery. The following day was spent taking in sights like Pha That Luang, Laos' most important national monument. It is believed that a piece of Buddha's breastbone is enshrined here.
Wat Si Saket was my favorite sight of the day. The oldest temple in Vientiane. This is the only one the Siamese did not destroy back in the 1800s. The temple contains 8000 Buddha sculptures and several beautiful murals. It's a very peaceful place to hang out for a while before heading back out to the city.
Patuxai was a close second to Wat Si Saket. Not because this Arc de Triomphe replica is extraordinarily special but because the Lao government used cement provided to them by the Americans for the construction of an airport to build the thing. It's called 'the vertical runway' by expats. The sign here reads "from a closer distance it appears even less impressive, like a concrete monster".
The Buddha Park at Xieng Khuan was definitely worth the rickety 40 minute ride out of town.
The best part of the Vientiane experience by far was hanging out with Lulu's parents, auntie and cousin. We went for a lovely lunch floating on a houseboat on the Mekong river.
Auntie told me a few stories about buying mangoes for Tuc and falling off her bike. "Tuc very lucky" she would say "so many people do things for her. I tell her she lucky." Everytime Mrs. P did something she would turn to me and say "same Tuc Tic". Come to think of it, they are a lot alike. It didn't take more than a few minutes before Mrs. P had bought a couple of tops at the market and then another few minutes before she was wearing one of them.
posted by LOTC at 8:14 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home