Friday February 15, 2013 Vientiane Laos
On Wednesday evening we ate Laotian food and watched a traditional show of Lao folk dancing and music at Phatoke Laoderm, a dinner theatre a few blocks away. It was a bit expensive - $15 each - but the food was excellent and the show was fine.
After seeing a traditional Khmer show in Siem Reap and now this Lao show here, I don't think we need to see any more folk dancing.
Yesterday morning we decided to walk up to the Patuxay monument. On the way, we passed this stupa or shrine a block away from our hotel. These shrines are very common.
The Patuxay monument may be the tallest structure in Vientiane. It is a monument to the nationalist soldiers and was built in 1962 from cement that was donated to Laos by the USA to build a new runway at the airport. Hence, it is known among some expats as "the vertical runway". Since the Americans started bombing the hell out of Laos in 1964, maybe the Lao people were wise not to give them a runway to help them invade.
We climbed the stairs to the top of the monument and took in the view back down the boulevard toward the presidential palace and the Mekong River in the far distance. There is perhaps one building in Vientiane that looks like it might be 15 to 20 stories but all the rest of the big buildings appear to be 4 to 10 stories. This isn't a big city for a capital. There are over 200,000 people here but it's all low-rise and low key. A laid-back place with lots of old French colonial buildings.
After we climbed back down the Patuxay monument, we walked down the boulevard toward the river, stopping for a few moments in a shopping mall with the usual proliferation of gold and jewelry stores. They seem to like bling stores in Asia.
There is a park and a levee along the Mekong. Anita is standing on the levee with a dry channel of the Mekong behind her, then a swampy island, then the river and finally on the other side, Thailand.
Anita is walking back through the park toward the back side of the presidential palace. This area probably floods in the rainy season so they've made a nice park there.
This is a weird type of tree in the park that has some branches that grow back down toward the ground and become roots when they get there. Odd but very jungle-like.
The tuk tuks here are different. They have 2 bench seats facing each other down the sides and entry from the back, like the sorngtaau pickup trucks.
At the Nam Phu fountain, they were really gearing up for Valentine's Day. It seems that every holiday is celebrated with enthusiasm in southeast Asia. Our New Year, Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, Christmas - you name it.
For our Valentine's dinner, we went to Amphone, a restaurant down a little alley near Nam Phu fountain area, recommended in Lonely Planet. We had a great meal there except that Anita ate a whole little orange pepper by mistake, thinking it was a mini carrot. She survived but it was touch and go for about 10 minutes.
After dinner we went back to Nam Phu fountain to watch the music for awhile. It's really a nice place.
This morning we walked down to the next block to the National Museum, a French colonial building built in 1925 that was the scene of Laos' declaration of independence in 1945. Of course, it took them another 9 years to defeat the French colonialists and then the Americans started covert activities here.
The museum has artifacts and displays from pre-history to the present. Laos has many different ethnic groups so that was quite interesting. People have lived in the Luang Prabang area for at least 20,000 years. Naturally, there have been a lot of invaders over the centuries including the Chinese, Thais, Khmers and finally the French and the Americans - pretty much same same but different like Cambodia and Vietnam. We saw yet another display of the effects of colonialism by the French and carpet bombing with cluster bombs by the Americans, along with present day safety videos for children on how to recognize and avoid un-exploded ordinance (UXO). Every day I wonder why they don't seem to hate westerners here. I know we're not Americans but we look and sound like them. And there are American tourists here who are treated just fine. I'm not sure I would be so forgiving.
After the museum, we went on a search for tonight's restaurant. It looks like a place called Le Terrace is the winner - French cuisine at reasonable prices. Then we went to JoMa Bakery for a Greek Salad and an apple croissant for lunch. Colonialism was bad but the French influence on the bakeries was certainly good. There is fantastic food here.
After lunch, we came back to our hotel to get out of the heat. It's not that humid but by midday the sun is just scorching. There hasn't been a cloud in the sky since we got here. Lots of businesswomen and businessmen carry parasols to protect them from the sun when they go outside. Good idea.
We've been doing some more internet travel research, as we do every day for an hour or two. It's sometimes a pain but it's the best way to keep travelling successfully.
Tomorrow, it's off to Luang Prabang for 5 nights.
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