Thursday 7 January
We bid farewell to the friendly staff of Elephant Crossing after breakfast, leaving as our minibus arrived just on 9am as advertised. No luck in getting a selection of seats on this occasion, but did avoid having to sit in the back seats.
There was no attractive scenery to speak of during the 4 and a half hour trip. Flat countryside, a series of small townships of a nondescript nature passed us along the way, including one at which there was a 15 minute break for a snack (a Cornetto for us).
The road surface was worse than any other we have found in Laos. Constant patches of potholes slowed everything down, and all of the traffic swings this side and that on the roadway to avoid the worst of the holes. On both sides of the road, the vegetation is crusted in raised dust, as I guess is the case in the towns too.
The last 50 km into Vientiane is a seemingly continuous line of villages, hardly any sign of a break between them, strung out along the straight dusty highway like beads. At the drop off point we were able to secure a tuk tuk in short order to take us to our hotel. Cost was a moderate 40000 kip, including luggage.
The Hotel Beau Rivage Mekong is right on the riverfront. Our garden view room is spacious, high ceilinged and idiosyncratically decorated. A step up in standard from our other accommodation. The location is good too, just steps from the array of informal restaurants which set up nightly on the riverside promenade.
We ate lunch at the adjacent Spirit House, where our selections of Battered fish with pork and tamarind sauce, and kalao leaves with chicken. Good value too.
We spent the afternoon resting from the morning’s journey, and avoiding the afternoon heat. As dusk settled, we headed toward the Night Market sector of the Mekong Corniche, finding the market very much a locals shopping affair, with few souvenir stores. The walk came complete with aerobics performances by a mass group, and karaoke of a particularly dire standard issuing from a couple of adjacent restaurants. Perhaps they have contests? We returned to the informal restaurants on the Fa Ngam promenade near Beau Rivage to eat, choosing grilled fish and a very competent green curry. Very satisfying too, for about 100000 kip.
Satisfied, we settled into bed, planning some sightseeing tomorrow.
Friday 8 January
Breakfast served at Spirit House was pretty good. Coffee, juice, eggs and fruit. Afterward, got prearranged tuktuk to take us, first to the COPE centre, where the displays highlight the ongoing cost of the Indochina war on the civilian population, as caused by US bombing. A particular emphasis on the evil of cluster bombs. The centre works to improve the standard of prosthetics for those who fell victim to US War Crimes during the conflict. An interesting display of makeshift and home-made prostheses and also household items made from the detritus of battle. Donated some kip to the cause.
Our driver took us on to Patu Xay Monument, standing proud in a formal square, and festooned with flags and red bannered slogans. I took the time to climb up to the terrace for the view over the city. The monument looks better from afar than up close.
Afterwards, we walked down the main avenue of Lane Xang, dropping into the Talat Sao Mall (and finding it pretty dull). A quick diversion took us past the US Consulate, to the brick ‘Black Stupa’, whose gold covering was stolen by the dastardly Siamese. It glories under the local language name of That Dam Stupa! Old French style buildings and homes are features of the area.
Back on the main drag, it was just a short walk to Wat Si Saket – famous for fading frescoes in the sim and a Buddha image filled cloister.
Across the road, Wat Phra Keo was closed up with scaffolding, and in any case, soon to close for lunch. So we walked on past the Presidential Palace, along a tree-lined street to the main tourist area of town, where many restaurants and hotels are located.
After a bit of a hunt, we found lunch at Makphet (spring rolls, smoky eggplant dip, pork with green peppercorns and jicama), a restaurant providing employment to folk living on the streets. The food was good, and provided bit more variety than had been on show in Vang Vieng. Back for an afternoon rest at Beau Rivage.
Walked back to dinner at L’Addresse D’Tinay. The room is very minimalist in design, but the chairs are a little uncomfortable. I chose Steak with mushroom, whilst Minuk’s choice was, almost inevitably, duck confit. A good meal for a fair price. The walk back to Beau Rivage was via the riverfront promenade, where groups of young adults congregated with their motorcycles in the cool evening air.
Saturday 9 January
Our last say in Laos began with breakfast at Spirit House, with eggs, toast and fruit again.
We had arranged a driver for the day, Mr Lam. He collected us in his slightly battered old car at 9am, and we headed out of town on a misty morning. The destination was Wat Xieng Khuang, aka Buddha Park, about half an hour south of the city, beside the Mekong River. The sculpture garden was built by a rogue monk Bunleua Sulilat, attempting a syncretic amalgam of Buddhism and Hinduism. He completed the park in 1958, but later fled across the Mekong to build a sister park in Nong Khai.
Consequently, the serene reclining Buddha is joined by Krishna, Hanuman, sundry ogres, a cricket and a huge gourd into which one can climb (through the demon’s mouth), to ascend 3 levels, through hell, earth and heaven, for a grand view across the little park. After spending an hour checking out the various weathered concrete sculptures in this little enclosure, we drove back to town, and up to the gold painted Wat Luang. The gilt coating is looking a bit ropy in places. Outside, we had the opportunity to purchase a wee bird in a cage, to set free. We chose not to so indulge. There was a rather better standard of cage here in Vientiane, compared to that available in Luang Prabang. No doubt the birds return to the sellers just the same!
In the market outside I tried to no avail find a red t-shirt with an image of the Lao flag. Saw one in Luang Prabang and liked it, but none in the colour or my size could be found. So it was time to return to our transport, and go in search of lunch.
Mr Lam dropped us near the restaurant Le Vendome, where we had hoped to try out their lunch specials. Only problem with the plan was that it was closed on Saturdays!
Not to worry, nearby, we found lunch at the excellent Ms Khambang restaurant – tongue, ribs and kang kung in an AC room. It was only a short walk back along the riverside to Beau Rivage.
We rested, freshened up and packed and were off to the train station at Thanaleng by 3pm. The station is in the middle of nowhere, up a rutted and dusty road near the Friendship Bridge across the Mekong. Not far in fact from this morning’s destination at the Buddha park. We bought our tickets, and got stamped out of Laos by the immigration office, then gathered with a crowd of travellers to await the little train, watched over by the two station cats. The train itself is just two cars, with natural air conditioning. The entire length of Laos’ railway system is 3km! The Deputy Director of the Laso Railways has a really demanding job! At 5:30pm it was time to depart, the entire journey across the Friendship Bridge taking about 10 minutes. The bridge is closed to traffic as the train passes.
The Night Train to Bangkok was waiting at Nong Khai station. There was something of a queue at Thai immigration, but with over an hour until the scheduled departure, no real rush or worry. We boarded the 1st class car, found our compartment, and fended off a very grumpy and rude Thai food vendor. An exploration of the train showed that
- 2nd class was very cold – glad we had booked the 1st Class compartment
- We’d have to get to the dining car early, as there was not much space
After dinner, there was time for reading before attempting to sleep on the rattling rolling train.