Giving Vientiane a chance

Before I left for Laos, I received a lot of travel advice from friends and fellow travellers who had already visited the country. Besides recommendations for accommodation, things to do and food to eat, I was given the names of two must-see places and one place that could definitely be missed. The must-see places were Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng, both places which I dutifully visited, loving the first and being very underwhelmed by the second. The place I was told by many that could be missed was Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, described as boring by most people, with not much to see. When finally made the decision to fly to Vietnam from Laos, I had the option to fly there from either Luang Prabang or Vientiane. I chose Vientiane, both because it was the cheapest flight and also because I felt that I needed to at least make an appearance in the capital city of the country I was visiting, even if it was only for a few hours. In spite of all the not-so-inspiring reviews, I decided that I should give the city a chance. I wasn’t sure how long I would be there for, days or hours, I just knew that I had to get there at some stage before my flight.

I was in Vang Vieng for a couple of days and, while the place was gorgeous, I wasn’t really in the headspace for it and so I decided that instead of staying in a place where I wasn’t enjoying myself, I would leave and head to Vientiane for my last few days in Laos. I took the bus there with my Vang Vieng dinner buddy Justin, and organized to meet up with another friend Inbal, who was also heading in that direction. We were all planning on being in Vientiane for the same amount of time, each of us heading to different destinations from there, me to Vietnam, Justin to Thailand and Inbal to Cambodia. Expectations for the city were low, but I did a bit of research on the bus ride over, to get an idea of what there was to do in the city, as all of us wanted to get moving and see some sights after a week or two of relative laziness and inertia.

I have to say that I really enjoyed Vientiane. The remnants of the French influence from their time in Laos from the end of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th century, including architecture and street names, have given a relaxed, slightly European feel to the city, and the need to cater for the many foreigners passing through, has brought an influx of chic restaurants and cafes offering many different types of cuisine, adding a touch of sophistication to the capital city that is unfelt anywhere else in Laos. Vientiane felt like a smaller, more intimate version of a big city. It was relaxed and very chilled like most places in Laos, with the huge difference for me that there were things to do in the city that weren’t necessarily related to hiking and nature, including temples, stupas, museums and monuments. While I love nature, and I love spending time outdoors, at that stage I was craving something more culture and wanted to learn a bit about the country I had spent the last few weeks in.

Our two and a half days in Vientiane were spent wandering through the night markets, marvelling at the free mass aerobic workouts on the wide promenade on the banks of the Mekong, drinking bubble tea, sampling Dairy Queen sticky rice and mango blizzards, splurging on sushi and learning how to eat the amazing rice noodle soups that we had for dinner each night. In between gastronomic indulgences we visited Phat That Luang, otherwise known as the golden stupa, Wat Si Saket, the oldest temple in Laos, and Patuxai, a war monument in the center of Laos nicknamed the Arch de Triomphe of Vientiane, or the “vertical runway”, as it was created with funds and cement donated by the US government for the purpose of building a new airport. We also went to check out the insanely bizarre Buddha Park, a sculpture park located just outside of the city, full of strangely weird and wonderful Hindu and Buddhist statues created by someone with an exceptionally overactive imagination and tendency to the magical and the grotesque.

While I enjoyed my entire time in the city, the experience that made my visit worthwhile was our brief visit to the COPE center, a museum and information center located inside a rehabilitation center, and dedicated to providing information about the “Secret War” in Laos and the ongoing effects of that war on the lives of many of Lao’s people. The “Secret War” was the war waged on Laos by the US from 1964 to 1973 during the time of the Vietnam War when Laos was officially neutral territory. Over 270,000,000 cluster bombs, as well as other explosives, were rained down on Laos, making it the most bombed country per capita in history. Many of these bombs remain unexploded until today, and are the ongoing cause of numerous casualties throughout the country every year. The center was an eye-opener for me. Most of us travellers know Laos as a beautiful place with amazing scenery and friendly people but most of us are unaware of the history and the pain behind the smiles of many of the villagers. The visit to the center made me regret not having done more research into the history of Laos before I arrived and made me wish I could start my time in Laos from the beginning, with the new information I had at hand, to view the place with new eyes.

When I left Vang Vieng for Vientiane I was already ready to Leave Laos, even trying to change my place ticket so I could leave a few days early. When I eventually got into the taxi to the airport to catch my flight to Vietnam, I wasn’t ready to leave anymore. I left with feelings of regret, with a feeling that somehow my time in Laos has been incomplete. I left feeling glad I had taken the time to visit the unfairly maligned capital city of Laos, and wishing that everyone who visits the country would make the effort to learn a bit more about its history and the incredible resilience behind the smiles of the friendly people of Laos.