Friday, December 12, 2008
To Vientiane and beyond
We left our very basic Daen Sawan guesthouse early on December 8 to catch the local bus to Savannakhet, only to learn that a 9am departure in Lao time translates to about 10am by anyone else’s clock.
Unfazed, we put the spare time to good use, purchasing two kilograms of sweet, juicy mandarins for the 250-kilometre bus ride ahead, and watching the bus driver play with his pet puppy over a leisurely 9.30am coffee.
I had dismal expectations of the bus ride, having read in a 2003 guidebook that much of the road from Daen Sawan to the larger port town of Savannakhet was unpaved. Thankfully, the highway seems to be much improved and the five-hour-long bus ride was surprisingly comfortable.
Savannakhet is a city in Southern Laos that serves as a transport hub between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Located by the Mekong River, Savannakhet is considered the country’s business capital and is home to some 120,000 people, making it the second largest city in Laos.
We spent one night at the Sayamunkun Guesthouse, where 60,000 kip (~AUD$12) bought us a triple room with the comforts of a hot shower and bed sheets. Although the town is pleasant enough, we were eager to reach Vientiane and caught the earliest local bus out of Savannakhet that we could manage.
The local bus from Savannakhet to Vientiane was even more comfortable than the one from Daen Sawan, making the nine-hour-long bus ride far more pleasant than I had expected. Another unexpected treat was a chance meeting with 28-year-old Lao teacher Eik, who had also briefly greeted us in Daen Sawan the day before.
Eik had graduated from university in Vientiane three years ago and was full of praise for the Lao government, which provides free primary and secondary school education as well as a free two years of university tuition to high achievers.
Likening the Lao form of communism to Australian democracy, Eik explained that although there exists only one political party in Laos, party members are elected from each region in a democratic fashion. He also had high hopes for women’s rights in the country, explaining how his mother’s job as the region’s elected women’s union leader was to assist women in divorcing abusive husbands.
We arrived in Vientiane near sunset and checked into the comfortable but relatively pricey Orchid Guesthouse, reasoning that we deserved the luxuries of air-conditioning, hot showers and cable TV after four long days of bus rides and dodgy accommodation. But it was not long before the monetary allure of budget accommodation caught up with us, and we moved to the US$15-per-night Samsenthai guesthouse the very next morning.
For a capital city, Vientiane is refreshingly small and laid back. A village-like atmosphere permeates even the city centre which, compared to the dense, busy cities of Vietnam, is a low-rise sprawl with relatively light traffic and wide sidewalks.
Our three nights in the city were spent dining at a very good Mekong riverfront restaurant, people-watching at dodgy nightclubs, and sipping ice-blended coffees in the sweltering heat of Lao afternoons.
Another Vientiane attraction of particular interest to me was Buddha Park, or Xiang Khouan in Lao. Constructed in 1958 by a Hindu-Buddhist priest named Bunleua Sulilat, the park houses a collection of some 200 cement statues of Buddha and various Hindu gods.
We visited the park in the late afternoon, wandering casually through the statues before venturing into what I found to be the park's most intriguing structure: a dark, three-storey dome depicting hell, earth and heaven. Reaching the dome’s roof near sunset, I battled my fear of heights for the most spectacular view of the Buddhas amid a dramatic yellow-green field.
We left Vientiane on the morning of December 12 for the backpacker haven of Vang Vieng, some 150 kilometres North of the capital and a leisurely six-hour bus ride away. I am getting rather too well acquainted with these long-distance bus rides. Surely we are spending too much time together!
Unfazed, we put the spare time to good use, purchasing two kilograms of sweet, juicy mandarins for the 250-kilometre bus ride ahead, and watching the bus driver play with his pet puppy over a leisurely 9.30am coffee.
I had dismal expectations of the bus ride, having read in a 2003 guidebook that much of the road from Daen Sawan to the larger port town of Savannakhet was unpaved. Thankfully, the highway seems to be much improved and the five-hour-long bus ride was surprisingly comfortable.
Savannakhet is a city in Southern Laos that serves as a transport hub between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Located by the Mekong River, Savannakhet is considered the country’s business capital and is home to some 120,000 people, making it the second largest city in Laos.
We spent one night at the Sayamunkun Guesthouse, where 60,000 kip (~AUD$12) bought us a triple room with the comforts of a hot shower and bed sheets. Although the town is pleasant enough, we were eager to reach Vientiane and caught the earliest local bus out of Savannakhet that we could manage.
The local bus from Savannakhet to Vientiane was even more comfortable than the one from Daen Sawan, making the nine-hour-long bus ride far more pleasant than I had expected. Another unexpected treat was a chance meeting with 28-year-old Lao teacher Eik, who had also briefly greeted us in Daen Sawan the day before.
Eik had graduated from university in Vientiane three years ago and was full of praise for the Lao government, which provides free primary and secondary school education as well as a free two years of university tuition to high achievers.
Likening the Lao form of communism to Australian democracy, Eik explained that although there exists only one political party in Laos, party members are elected from each region in a democratic fashion. He also had high hopes for women’s rights in the country, explaining how his mother’s job as the region’s elected women’s union leader was to assist women in divorcing abusive husbands.
We arrived in Vientiane near sunset and checked into the comfortable but relatively pricey Orchid Guesthouse, reasoning that we deserved the luxuries of air-conditioning, hot showers and cable TV after four long days of bus rides and dodgy accommodation. But it was not long before the monetary allure of budget accommodation caught up with us, and we moved to the US$15-per-night Samsenthai guesthouse the very next morning.
For a capital city, Vientiane is refreshingly small and laid back. A village-like atmosphere permeates even the city centre which, compared to the dense, busy cities of Vietnam, is a low-rise sprawl with relatively light traffic and wide sidewalks.
Our three nights in the city were spent dining at a very good Mekong riverfront restaurant, people-watching at dodgy nightclubs, and sipping ice-blended coffees in the sweltering heat of Lao afternoons.
Another Vientiane attraction of particular interest to me was Buddha Park, or Xiang Khouan in Lao. Constructed in 1958 by a Hindu-Buddhist priest named Bunleua Sulilat, the park houses a collection of some 200 cement statues of Buddha and various Hindu gods.
We visited the park in the late afternoon, wandering casually through the statues before venturing into what I found to be the park's most intriguing structure: a dark, three-storey dome depicting hell, earth and heaven. Reaching the dome’s roof near sunset, I battled my fear of heights for the most spectacular view of the Buddhas amid a dramatic yellow-green field.
We left Vientiane on the morning of December 12 for the backpacker haven of Vang Vieng, some 150 kilometres North of the capital and a leisurely six-hour bus ride away. I am getting rather too well acquainted with these long-distance bus rides. Surely we are spending too much time together!
Labels: Laos
# posted by liz : 8:31 PM
