This was the end of Indochina, so far as I was concerned, and not a bad place to finish my touring in Asia. Vientiane, capital of Laos, has an official population of 600,000, although our guide thought that there were actually far more than that living there. The town itself is reasonably modern and has a comfortable feel to it, certainly more relaxed than Saigon and much more laid back than Hanoi. As with Luang Prabang, it sits on the mighty Mekong (not the Mighty Mekon, Dan Dare fans). At this point the river forms the border with Thailand and, at night, sitting in one of the riverside restaurants, you can see the lights of one of the Thai towns, right across the river from Vientiane.
Here's the Royal Palace (I think), a rather magnificent building:
No town in Indochina would be complete without its temples and Vientiane is no exception, boasting the nation's most potent symbol of Lao sovereignty and its most revered Buddhist site, That Luang, a religious monument, completely covered in gold.
The French influence is witnessed by the Patuxai monument, Vientiane's own Arc de Triumphe, only with an Asian touch. This arch stands at the end of a long wide street, reminiscent of the Champs Elysee. Predictably, it was built by the French when they used the city as their centre of operations in Indochina. I wasn't quite sure what to make of the sign, in the middle of some shrubs, that said "No passing a grass". "Don't Bogard the joint" maybe? In passing, it's worth noting that the parks here, and elsewhere in Laos, are very well kept, a testament to communist rule and cheap labour, perhaps?
Also on a religious theme, there's the Haw Pha Kaew, once a royal temple that held the much valued Emerald Buddha. Unfortunately, those nasty Siamese stole the Buddha and it is now housed in Bangkok's Grand Palace. I don't know how true the story is, but I did see it in Bangkok, so I can only assume it's true. The trouble is that out here there's been such a convoluted history between the countries of Indochina that there are old animosities everywhere, diaspora (or diasporas?) in every country and lots of irredentist feelings. It's hard to know which side to believe, although it seems to me that the Cambodians are the most aggrieved, the Khmer empire having once included almost all of Indochina. Having the fuck bombed out of them by the Americans didn't help a lot, although, in fact, Laos was bombed even more. Without doubt, the Vietnamese are the most disliked and no one is too keen on China. Really, knowing very little about the region, it would seem to me quite likely that there will be further wars before too long.
Whilst we were in Vientiane, we also went to the museum for unexploded mines. This was much like the one I saw in Vietnam (or was it Cambodia?) and it left me with the same feelings of sadness and disgust. Those poor people after all this time still losing limbs from all the cluster bombs that litter the country. The Americans have a lot to answer for, but then we've used them too!
As it's the last time I'll be seeing them, I'll finish this posting with photos of my travelling companions, all taken on our last night out together, when we all ate dinner at one of the excellent riverside restaurants (and one of the few where I could get a decent bottle of wine). I must say that they were a great bunch of people and we had a lot of fun together, so thanks to everyone and I hope to see some of you in the UK one day. With apologies in advance for the spelling, they are, in order:
Shay and Lesley, from Canberra:
Peter and Pamela, from Melbourne:
Debbie, from Edmonton:
Adriana, from Brazil, but currently living in London with her husband:
Betsy, from New York:
Laurey, our guide, from Sydney:
And, just for good luck, me:
Unfortunately, Karen, also from New York, couldn't join us for dinner that night as she was suffering from a nasty bug. I didn't get a picture of her either. I trust you are better now, Karen.
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