It turns out 'drop off in Vientiane' means exactly that, so not necessarily near anything useful. We didn't know where we were, we were outside of the map, it was a quiet Sunday and the cash machine there didn't accept our cards. So we headed in the most logical direction. Luckily we were correct and we found Vientiane to be not very big. We found the highstreet, got 1 million out of the cash machine and had a cup of coffee at the nice place in the 'highstreet'.
We were flabbergasted (nice to be able to use this word) that this could be a capital city.
The second day we hired bikes and saw the whole city.
The COPE centre explained the history of what they call the American war. In the sixties Laos was neutral. But because it was next to Vietnam the US was not sure, without declaring war they decided to bomb the whole country. Hunderds of thousands of bombs were thorwn on the country and they still injure many. Playing kids, farmers ...
The COPE centre help clear bombs, make artificial limbs and train people on how to use them.
Laos seem to have a Wat (temple) on every corner, they are all as beautiful as the next, this is just a random one.
So we took the minibus to Vang Vieng. A rather long uneventful trip and we didn't really get the impression that we got to 'see the country'.
Vieng Vang is popular with certain thrill seekers. The main activity seems to be hanging in the pub drinking Lao Lao spirit, Beer Lao or what they call Bucket; a little bucket with a mix of Lao Lao and softdrink, a dangerous mix. Several seem to have the added attraction of a television with continuous episodes of Friends. I think it is very hardcore indeed if you can survive more than one episode at a time. The second activity is tubing down the river. This time of year the river is not very wild, but still this did not attract us.
The warning sign not to go around town half naked was not needed this time of year as it was not warm enough, the weather was very pleasant though.
The first day we crossed the river on one of the small bridges to see the caves in the mountain.
Most bridges over the river look more like this.
We got a nice view of the town from up there.
The Buddha in the cave was a bit 'special' looking.
The town is very small and easy to move around in.
So we hired a moped and drove a bit on the other side of the river. That felt a lot more like the real Laos.
We liked the bins made out of old tires.
Markets are always fascinating, but I didn't ask: 'how much for the boy?'
Lang Vieng is beautifully set in the mountains, but it is difficult to capture the mountains on camera.
Sunsets were beautiful, which shows another activity you could do, balloons. However, this being rather pricy not many people do it.
The national sport seems to be sepak takraw a sort of volleyball played with your feet. The ball is made from rattan.
These boys were playing right outside our hotel.
We were flabbergasted (nice to be able to use this word) that this could be a capital city.
The second day we hired bikes and saw the whole city.
The COPE centre explained the history of what they call the American war. In the sixties Laos was neutral. But because it was next to Vietnam the US was not sure, without declaring war they decided to bomb the whole country. Hunderds of thousands of bombs were thorwn on the country and they still injure many. Playing kids, farmers ...
The COPE centre help clear bombs, make artificial limbs and train people on how to use them.
Laos seem to have a Wat (temple) on every corner, they are all as beautiful as the next, this is just a random one.
So we took the minibus to Vang Vieng. A rather long uneventful trip and we didn't really get the impression that we got to 'see the country'.
Vieng Vang is popular with certain thrill seekers. The main activity seems to be hanging in the pub drinking Lao Lao spirit, Beer Lao or what they call Bucket; a little bucket with a mix of Lao Lao and softdrink, a dangerous mix. Several seem to have the added attraction of a television with continuous episodes of Friends. I think it is very hardcore indeed if you can survive more than one episode at a time. The second activity is tubing down the river. This time of year the river is not very wild, but still this did not attract us.
The warning sign not to go around town half naked was not needed this time of year as it was not warm enough, the weather was very pleasant though.
The first day we crossed the river on one of the small bridges to see the caves in the mountain.
Most bridges over the river look more like this.
We got a nice view of the town from up there.
The Buddha in the cave was a bit 'special' looking.
The town is very small and easy to move around in.
So we hired a moped and drove a bit on the other side of the river. That felt a lot more like the real Laos.
We liked the bins made out of old tires.
Markets are always fascinating, but I didn't ask: 'how much for the boy?'
Lang Vieng is beautifully set in the mountains, but it is difficult to capture the mountains on camera.
Sunsets were beautiful, which shows another activity you could do, balloons. However, this being rather pricy not many people do it.
The national sport seems to be sepak takraw a sort of volleyball played with your feet. The ball is made from rattan.
These boys were playing right outside our hotel.
1 comment:
Fantastic pics and story:)
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