At breakfast we met a fellow Hobartian named Laura who is holidaying in Vientiane. She is doing her internship at the RHH and is a colleague of David and Rod in the Emergency Department. It’s a small world indeed!
Our guide Song was ready to meet us at 08:30 so we loaded our mini-van with our bags and other possessions and headed along the Lan Xang (Million Elephants) Avenue to the Wat Si Saket museum which is the oldest wat (temple) in Vientiane. It was spared the destruction wrought by the Siamese when they razed the city in 1828.
This temple has very interesting architecture particularly the cloisters and covered gallery that surrounds the central temple or sim. The inner walls of the gallery have a thousand or more small niches each one holding two small bronze Buddha images. There are also dozens of unrestored life sized bronze and gilded wooden images of Buddha in various poses with each one indicating a particular state of mind.
The central sim has an impressive five-tiered roof. Inside there is a large golden Buddha surrounded by the usual regalia including a naga (nine headed serpent) trough. The internal walls have been partially restored by German and French conservators who have painstakingly reworked and painted the frescoes. The final restoration work where completed shows exquisite paintings in minute detail relating to Buddhist history.
Across the road from the Wat Si Saket was the Presidential Palace which we passed on our way to the Wat Phra Keo temple. This building, which now has on display many ancient Buddhist artefacts, originally housed the emerald Buddha which is now in Bangkok.
We then drove to the Patuxai which means Victory Gate and as one might expect, the structure looks to be a reasonable copy of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The monument was constructed in 1964 to commemorate the lives lost during the Lao Civil War between 1953 and 1975.
We climbed the spiral staircase to the top level (179 steps) where a superb panoramic view was to behold. As we were fairly early in the morning there was not the usual crowd for which this monument is renowned and the air temperature was pleasantly warm but not too hot. The ceiling adorning the Patuxai is of intricate gold and pale green patterns.
We then walked across a very large open and unoccupied square to reach the national icon of the That Luong stupa. In the nearby market people were selling caged sparrows for people to release. This is seen to be “doing a kind deed” and will thus enhance one’s chance of attaining Nirvana.
At this point it was now approaching 11:00 and we needed to start our long drive northwards to Vang Vieng.
The road was bitumen but had many potholes and broken edges so the travel was often bumpy and rough particularly as we entered the more mountainous region. The winding road made passing difficult and there were several ‘near misses’ as impatient drivers attempted to overtake our mini-van.
An absolute highlight of the day occurred somewhat unexpectedly when our driver diverted from the main road and headed along a dirt track which after a kilometre or so led us to the site of Vang Xang.
This is an 11th century archaeological site where two large (4 m) Buddhas have been carved into a rock wall, somewhat like the U.S. presidents at Mt. Rushmore.
Another astonishing fact was that a giant roundish boulder nearby (8 m high) has split into two rough hemispheres and a smaller carving is now divided between the two portions. It was suggested that giant tree roots were the cause of the rock splitting and separating the relief into two sections now about two metres apart.
Along the way we passed villages and farm areas where rice growing and cattle seemed to be the main preoccupations. The mountainous area was thick with bamboo, vines and large trees and Song told us that 47% of Laos is still forest covered.
One further point of interest was a brief visit to a rubber tree plantation. The latex was being collected in small cans attached to the sides of the trees just below a point where the bark had been cut. By careful slicing at night time, a thin strip of bark is removed to initiate the flow of the white rubbery sap. The bark is only progressively removed from one side of the tree in order to avoid killing the tree by ‘ring-barking’.
Near the Ang Nain Nagm lake we stopped to see the local roadside fish market. The fish were mostly dried and smoked but ranged in size and colour from tiny silver (freshwater) sardines to reddish fleshed fish that were 30 cm long. The fishy smell was dominant and we couldn’t get over the huge number of stalls selling identical wares and yet there were no customers at that time of the day.
As well as fish, there were thick strips of dried buffalo hide that still had the fur attached. This did not look appetising.
We eventually arrived at Vang Vieng at 17:00 and moved into our excellent accommodation at the Riverside Boutique Resort. From our window we can view picturesque karst mountains and next to the resort is the Nam Song River.
We had evening drinks on the river bank and watched boating traffic moving up and down this fast flowing river with the stunning backdrop of the steep mountains and the rich colours of a sunset.
Tomorrow we will explore this location and amongst other activities we hope to visit the famous Tham Phoukham caves.