The Sights of Vientiane
17 March, 2009, 03:39 am in "Laos"
Buddha statue
It was the only wat not destroyed by the Siamese invasion in 1827-28. Therefor is the oldest surviving wat in Vientiane.
Library of Wat Sisaket
It is a humble looking wooden building when compared to the newer wats. The paint has almost all weathered off leaving the ornate wood carved trim a simple brown. Around the wat was a covered passage. The wall of the passage was full of little niches, each containing two little Buddha statues. A note said there were 6,840 total. In the sim, the main building of the wat, there were more niches containing 2,052 statues. The passage contained larger Buddha statues as well, 120 of them. The note said there was a total of 10,136 statues in the wat. The facial features were sharper and more pronounced than the Buddhas I'd seen in other places giving them an almost avian look.
Roof of wat
Buddha statue at Wat Sisaket
Buddhas in niches
The roofs of the buildings were shingled with clay tiles blackened by lichen and moss. Between 2 sections of the colonnades was a small open storage room full of Buddha statues. A sign stated the Buddhas had been damaged,decapitated, partially melted or otherwise damaged by fires and attacks from the end of the 19th century. Some were found underground during excavations of Vientiane.
Damaged Buddhas
The courtyard was lined with pots of flowers. Beyond the walls palm trees rose. Inside the sim were paintings illustrating Balasaukhya Jataka which told the story of Prince Pookkharabat who “chose an honest thief as his chief minister and who defeated his enemies with a magic fan.” There were also scenes of court life, battles and the qualities needed to be a successful ruler. The ceiling was decorated with gold moldings representing lotus flowers.
Monks walking by sim
Across the street is Wat Phra Keo. The original was built in 1565 by King Xaisethathirath who ruled the Lao Lanexang Kingdom. It was built to house the emerald Buddha which was captured by the Siamese in 1779 and has been in Bangkok ever since. The wat had some beautiful sculpted reliefs and floral trim around the doors and windows.
Wat Phra Keo
Carved decorations
Sculpted reliefs on the doors
The interior served a dual purpose as museum and place of worship. People prayed in front of a large Buddha while behind them were urns, Buddhas and other consecrated items in display cases or arranged around the walls. Some had offerings placed in/on them. In front of the wat were some stones with sanskrit engravings and divided circle figures, maybe mandalas. The grounds had trimmed lawns and flowers making it a pretty and relaxing place.
The other day we visited Patuxay which is an unfinished triumphal arch built in the 60s from concrete donated by the US to built a runway.
It was Sunday and people sat at tables in the shade of the arch. Teens and young adults hung out in the shade of a large tree next to the fountain. Photographers with photo printers powered by batteries carried in their back packs, wandered the area looking for customers.
The other day we visited Patuxay which is an unfinished triumphal arch built in the 60s from concrete donated by the US to built a runway.
It was Sunday and people sat at tables in the shade of the arch. Teens and young adults hung out in the shade of a large tree next to the fountain. Photographers with photo printers powered by batteries carried in their back packs, wandered the area looking for customers.
Patuxay Arch
People relaxing in the shade
Talat Sao, the morning market is a great place to look for handcrafts. I love Lao design. They use beautiful color combinations and interesting tasteful patterns. The silk pieces are beautiful. The shop owners take a lot of care in arranging their wares in an attractive manner as well.
Silk for sale
The Ban Anou market was more of a local market with food and flower offerings. We also stopped by a wat. The sun glowed through the haze like the last burning ember of a fire. It remained as if caught in the branches of a tree like a piece of fruit. The wat was slender and tall with columns like palm trunks and a roof like an arrow to the heavens.
Flower offerings
Wat near market
The Black Stupa was supposed to protect the city from invasion. It didn't work so has been left to languish in a small intersection.
The Black Stupa
Last night Rowshan and I had Lao BBQ which is a clay brazier with pot of boiling broth where you cook stuff they give you. We ordered seafood. A plate of shrimp and squid (I think) arrived with a basket with lots of greens-- mint, cilantro, bok choi (cabbage), and other herbs, cellophane noodles and an egg. They also gave us some Lao BBQ sauce. We'd seen someone cooking and eating it the night before. It seemed fairly straight forward. We threw the seafood in first and waited a bit. Then we added noodles and some greens and the egg. It seemed to work fine, although I think we overcooked the seafood. We enjoyed our meal. A Lao couple was at the table next to us. Rowshan had checked with them if we were doing things right. They also had a hot-pot. They told us during the rainy season the water comes up to where the restaurants are and last year covered the road.
Lao BBQ
Vientiane: Happy to be in Laos
15 March, 2009, 03:17 am in "Laos"
A Vientiane wat
Suddenly the air was fresh, the surroundings were peaceful, it was quiet. The stress disappeared. To make things even stranger, only one taxi driver approached us. We said, “No” and he walked off. Then we changed our minds and called him over. He smiled and was friendly. We found him incredibly likable.
Vientiane's streets were empty. It was probably around 10 AM when we drove through. We saw several pretty wats and their Thai looking architecture made us happy. Tuk-tuk drivers who just said, “tuk-tuk?” once and accepted, “No, thanks,” as a reply made us happy. Rowshan found a hotel near the river front while I sat in a cafe drinking coffee and eating cookies-- this made me happy.
Main street in Vientiane
The afternoon hadn't made the streets any more crowded. We walked by a market and street sellers selling herbs, baskets and fixings for rituals including colored threads for baci ceremony bracelets. A little girl tried to sell Rowshan gum. He said, “No I don't want gum.” She kept persisting. “Are you from Vietnam?” I asked. She didn't get it. Rowshan said, “She just wants to sell something so she can go back and make her parents proud.” Rowshan was being way too nice. It was as if he had spent all his pissed off energy in Vietnam and only had kindness for everyone left. I think it is the effect of Lao people. They smile, are friendly, and non pretentious.
Basket Sellers
Basket seller cart
Along the riverfront-- or rather the dry area where the river probably is during the wet season. There are lots of restaurants-- open structures with just thatched roofs. They roll into action towards evening when seafood (and frogs) appear in buckets and grills are lit. Salt covered fish and skewered pieces of meat take their position on the grills and the smell of the bar-b-cue meat begins to fill the air.
Dry fish traps along the river
The Mostly dry river
The French Cultural Center started a festival last night so a section of the waterfront had free games, food stands and a wine/cheese bar. There was a platform with a movie screen and a stage where some musical instruments were waiting. The festival had a French circus theme with umbrellas on tall poles and a gypsy-carnival music band. Unfortunately we were tired so we went back to the hotel before the music started. Since our hotel is near the river we heard the music- rather loudly-- until midnight.
Xylophone player at Mekong Festival
Rowshan plays a tune at the festival for an admiring fan
Vientiane has a relaxing mix of Europe and SE Asia. There are French colonial buildings, a plaza with a fountain which Rowshan called, the “Plaza del Armas” because it reminded us of South America. There are also traditional SE Asian buildings – wooden houses slightly raised above the ground with pointed roofs, ornate wats, and the riverside thatched bungalow restaurants. The weather is perhaps the most pleasant we've experienced in SE Asia. It is sunny but not too hot, not too humid, and sitting at an outdoor cafe, a breeze occasionally lingers.
Sunset over riverside restaurants
Catching frogs?
The city is so restful. There aren't a lot of sights but that is OK because the atmosphere begs you to just sit and chill. There are lots of cafes and bakeries. We could really get on quite well just going from cafe to cafe. All the tension we built up in Vietnam seems to be dissipating.
Man cleaning his rooster
Cat Ba: Kayaking in Lan Ha Bay
12 March, 2009, 02:40 am in "Vietnam"
Lan Ha Bay
We got motor taxis from the guy who owns the restaurant next door to the hotel, and one of his friends, who spend the day playing games and smoking a bamboo pipe in front of his restaurant. I should add that when we eat there (almost all the time) the food and service are both excellent.) Ben Beo is a little port with a couple hotels and floating restaurants. It is kind of an extension to Cat Ba town, over the hill, and since a short road connects it to Cat Ba town it is faster to boat there (if coming from Halong Bay) and then take a motor taxi into town.
We rented kayaks from a floating restaurant and paddled through the floating village. We'd been through it a couple times already. Dogs raced out of the houses and stood on the wooden walkways barking impotently-- unable to attack. Sometimes we'd see splashes or fish fins surface in the fish pens. Eager to get out of the crowded area we slipped into a non-populated section of the bay. Here everything became quiet. Our voices echoed against the limestone cliffs. Birds called and the waves rippled against the kayak. We drifted for a bit enjoying the peace. The inlet had one other boat, a fishing boat. The woman paddled while the man adjusted the nets. We emerged into another section of the village then skirted the edge of rock islets around a fish farm to another secluded lagoon. There was a little shrine made in the rocks from some flowers and red candles.
Shrine on the rocks
Interesting rock formations
It was a brief respite from the crowds and a little taste of the image I had in my head of Halong Bay (though we were actually in Lan Ha bay). But, soon our arms were tired so we headed back.
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