Yay we get a lie in for the first time in what seems like ages. Fab breakfast gorging on the most divine French bread, croissants with passion fruit and mango jam and omelettes with delicious rashers of bacon on the side. We sit outside for breakfast and despite the sunshine it’s quite chilly at 21 degtees rather than the scorching 38 of Manila.
So Vientiane, is the largest city and political, cultural, and economic center of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong River, it lies near the border with Thailand. The city has a population of around 900,000 people, making it the most populous city in Laos.
We’re here for 3 nights so we’re keen to get started as we only have 2 days of sight-seeing before we’re on the move again. We walk to Morning Market, which is a mixture.of fresh foods, clothes, household items – pretty much anything you can thing of. It’s a fascinating first look at shopping in Laos.
As we walk to our next stop, Patuxay, we notice that the hammer and sickle appears wherever you see the Laos flag and Buddhist Monks clad in their distinctive saffron robes are visibly going about their daily lives.
We walk to Patuxay Victory Monument and climb to the top for a panoramic view of the city.
Patuxay is located in the center of Vientiane, a short distance from the Presidential Palace. Its a great way to get the size of the city and start to orientate ourselves.
It was built between 1957 and 1968 to commemorate those who fought for Laos’ independence from France. The monument is often compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris but has distinct Lao architectural elements.
The exterior features Lao motifs, including depictions of lotus flowers, mythical creatures, and Buddhist symbols.
We walk to the nearby Wat That Phoun temple complex which is close to Patuxay. It’s an important religious and cultural site in the city, featuring traditional Lao Buddhist architecture in serene surroundings. The temple is a place for worship, meditation, and community gatherings. We have the temple completely to ourselves.
We walk from the temple towards the That Dam Stupa where I offer to take a photo of a group of ladies going to lunch and end up joining them for a photo!!
We walk to the park next to the Mekong and observe the impressive Statue of The King Anouvong (1767–1829), the last monarch of the Lao Kingdom of Vientiane. The statue is located in Chao Anouvong Park, near the Mekong River, and serves as a tribute to the king’s leadership and resistance against Siamese forces during the early 19th century.
The route back to our hotel includes walking past half a dozen car showrooms who’s names we’ve never heard of and are certainly not known in the UK, except BYD. We Google them and discover that they’re all Chinese, with the majority of models for sale being electric. Across our time in Vientiane, we quickly realise that the only brand of car that we’re familiar with is, Toyota. The great Chinese “Belt & Road” initiative writ large with another impressive example to come later.
After cooling off in the freezing but beautiful hotel pool and habing a well-earned afternoon nap, we venture out for dnner. One thing that’s immediately noticeable is how quiet it is, very few cars are on the road and there’s a distinct lack of street lights – the only seriously illuminated road being the Presidential Avenue from the Palace to Patuxay. I have to admit that it does feel a bit unnerving, but we walk on reassured that there’s two of us. About to show my age now, but I start to recount the plot of the film “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and put the thought into Brownie’s head that we’re going to be kidnapped off the street and thrown into wheeled wicker laundry baskets bound for China!! We do, of course, reach the restaurant in one piece. Sometimes, my imagination is just too vivid!!
We order Beer Lao which will, you’ll not be surprised to learn become our staple across the next 10 days or so. We decide on our food and I spy Crickets as a starter. We’ve come across these on numerous occasions on our previous travels in Asia, and today is the day to finally try them. Brownie’s game, so a side order of Crickets it is. I have to say they’re absolutely delicious – crispy with a slightly nutty flavour. They’ve been salted, so a perfect accompaniment to our beer. A real change to a bowl of peanuts. One word of caution we had to use a toothpick on multiple occasions to dislodge limbs and antenna from our teeth, but despite this, we’ll definitely eat them again!!
We take a tuk tuk to Patuxay as its illuminated at night with fountains. This means no walk back to our hotel and a removal of any kidnap threat!!
Thoroughly enjoyable 1st full day in Laos we have tomorrow already planned and will leave at a very civilised 9am!!
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