Well we made it back from Vanvieng in one piece getting back into Vientianne about 9:00 PM that night. Our ride home was fast, bumpy, hair raising, and full of close encounters with cows. Very similar to our trip up. Since we were all pretty tired we turned in early for the night.
The next morning our faithful guide Rung had more sightseeing for us to do in Vientianne. The first stop was the Buddhist garden on the outskirts of the city. It was pretty interesting with a lot of Buddhist and Hindu statuary. On one end was a representation of hell and the other end heaven. I am a little hazy on Buddhist beliefs about the afterlife so I am not sure how much was influenced by the two religions. I have noticed that there is a fair amount of blending of the two religions in Southeast Asia. I have included pictures of the garden.
Next up was lunch at one of the more interesting restaurants I have ever visited. It was on a tributary river leading to the Mekong – again on the outskirts of the city. The restaurant was built on pontoons in the river and had smaller boats moored to it. The boats were designed for eating and cruising along the river. We ordered our meal which they served to us on the boat and then cast off for a one hour meal and cruise.
A brief digression is in order here. We had a lot of food choices like fried pork intestine, roasted cicadas, roasted crickets, grilled buffalo skin, and fried sun dried algae among others. If you doubt me take a look at the pictures I took of the menu. I settled for broiled fish. Later in the day we were at a riverside bar and Bee and Jularat ordered chicken knuckles. I was thinking they would be something like chicken fingers but they were fried chicken cartilage – oh well.
Our next stop was a museum dedicated to the controversy surrounding the French colonization of Laos and to the American bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the Vietnam War. I am pretty sure Rung was probably required to take us here due to his licensing as an official tour guide of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Did I mention Laos is a Communist Country? There was some anti-French and anti-American propaganda but it seemed pretty pro-forma to me.
After our visit to the museum we headed to a silver smith/factory in Vientianne for some western style shopping. I bought my wife some … well she will have to wait till I get back. Finally we went to a very good French restaurant (which Laos is fairly famous for) and then back to the hotel.
Next blog : Our run in with the Thai State Highway Police
The next morning our faithful guide Rung had more sightseeing for us to do in Vientianne. The first stop was the Buddhist garden on the outskirts of the city. It was pretty interesting with a lot of Buddhist and Hindu statuary. On one end was a representation of hell and the other end heaven. I am a little hazy on Buddhist beliefs about the afterlife so I am not sure how much was influenced by the two religions. I have noticed that there is a fair amount of blending of the two religions in Southeast Asia. I have included pictures of the garden.
Next up was lunch at one of the more interesting restaurants I have ever visited. It was on a tributary river leading to the Mekong – again on the outskirts of the city. The restaurant was built on pontoons in the river and had smaller boats moored to it. The boats were designed for eating and cruising along the river. We ordered our meal which they served to us on the boat and then cast off for a one hour meal and cruise.
A brief digression is in order here. We had a lot of food choices like fried pork intestine, roasted cicadas, roasted crickets, grilled buffalo skin, and fried sun dried algae among others. If you doubt me take a look at the pictures I took of the menu. I settled for broiled fish. Later in the day we were at a riverside bar and Bee and Jularat ordered chicken knuckles. I was thinking they would be something like chicken fingers but they were fried chicken cartilage – oh well.
Our next stop was a museum dedicated to the controversy surrounding the French colonization of Laos and to the American bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the Vietnam War. I am pretty sure Rung was probably required to take us here due to his licensing as an official tour guide of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Did I mention Laos is a Communist Country? There was some anti-French and anti-American propaganda but it seemed pretty pro-forma to me.
After our visit to the museum we headed to a silver smith/factory in Vientianne for some western style shopping. I bought my wife some … well she will have to wait till I get back. Finally we went to a very good French restaurant (which Laos is fairly famous for) and then back to the hotel.
Next blog : Our run in with the Thai State Highway Police
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