Vientiane, Laos: Day 2
The morning before heading to our next destination, we got a chance to hit the major attractions of Vientiane, the first being That Dam.
That Dam is one of the oldest stupas in Vientiane. It may be covered in foliage, but there were definitely some women who were working on weeding it!
And here is Putuxai, Vientiane’s Arche de Triomphe, lovingly described as a “monster of concrete” on an information panel at the base!
You can actually climb up to the top of the arch which reveals a 360 degree view of the city, with lots of sky and an orderly set of streets that radiate from the arch.
More French influence! They make a mean baguette sandwich in Vientiane, provided you get to the bread before the humidity does. There’s nothing like a crispy baguette filled with fresh vegetables, cheese, and spicy sauce! On the left in the photo, wrapped in banana leaves are a kind of meat substance, er, sausages. Seems to be a local specialty!
We also visited the Temple of a Thousand Buddhas. Besides the large buddha statues, there are also miniature ones placed in the little nooks in the wall.
There are plenty of vestiges of the past in Laos. You could see this in the vintage cars that are easy to come across (or the old typography in the building signs). I find this to be one of the charming qualities of Laos.
Um, I can imagine my dog Bandit in this Vespa’s sidecar! Looks like a mechanical banana!
And here’s a lime-colored vintage VW Beetle in superb condition.
After our city walk, we boarded an air-conditioned mini-bus (um, basically a mini-van) with several large drunken tourists and headed up to Vang Vieng where Lord of the Flies meets Laos.
