Welcome to Laos

Entry 23:

Leaving Thailand, we had very high expectations for the little known country of Laos. Throughout our travels, many backpackers had told us about their journies through the country. Our guidebook painted a picture of a bargain paradise. By the end of our travels through Laos, both of us would come to love this country even if it was not such a bargain.

Without definate plans outside of the towns we wanted to see, we wandered around and discovered fun and interesting places that made our time enjoyable. It may sound cheesy to hear that we had two lunches at a mall food court. However, this was no ordinary food court. In fact, mostly locals go to what is referred to as the Morning Market, a market/mall that has a food stalls consisting of local cuisine that is made to order before your eyes. Tickets must be purchased at the entrance to avoid paying each merchant in cash. Even though we purchased $5 worth of stubs, we ended up with a full belly as well as change back. You can see our papaya salad being made in the video below:

Not everything was as cheap as we expected. Upon our arrival in Vientienne, we thought we would be able to find a guesthouse for under $10. Each of the places listed in our guidebook was suddenly more than $15. Sharon left Marc in the lobby of a guesthouse with the backpacks and disappeared for over an hour trying to find an affordable place. In the end, we settled on Saysouly Guesthouse ($14 a night) as it had all the amenities.

Laos was previously a French colony and it still maintains some of the cuisine from that era. So for the next couple of days, we would enjoy coffee, baguettes, and croissants. There is also some leftover architecture. The most obvious example of this is the Victory Monument, which resembles the Arc de Triumph in Paris. The road leading up to the monument looks like the Champs Elysees. In back of this monument is a large fountain and adjoining park filled with locals, tourists, and of course saffron-clad monks.


Victory Monument

Inside the dome

Street resembling Champs Elysees

Fountain

Like most of Southeast Asia, Laos is a Buddhist country and it is possible to visit all types of shrines dedicated to Buddha. We may not remember each temple's name, but the photos speak for themselves:

On our first night, we made our way to the busiest falang restaurant in town. Falang is the Laos word for "French," but it is generally used for all foreigners. Think of it as the Laos equivalent of gringo. We managed to score a great table on the second floor near the balcony. Since Marc ordered a Beer Laos, he had the undivided attention of an attractive Beer Lao maiden, a representative sent by the beer company to ensure customers continue to fill their glasses with beer. Not a moment went by during the entire meal where Marc did not enjoy a full glass of frosty Beer Lao.

The Mekong River has its origin in the Tibetan Highlands, but snakes its way through Southwest China and divides Thailand from Laos as it makes its way to Vietnam and the South China Sea. Vientienne sits on the bank of this mighty river and we decided to walk alongside it to find the perfect place for a sunset. We made our way to a floating riverside bar and enjoyed the picturesque view of the sun setting into the river. On the walk back, we discovered a local restaurant perched above the river. We sat Indian style on cushions beside a low table and had Lao style BBQ dinner. The waitress brought over an electric grill/pot with the ingredients on the side. Sharon grilled the fish and threw the noodles and vegetables into the pot. Ten minutes later, we were feasting like the locals.

We spent the next couple of days wandering around the city visiting various museums and temples, but on our last day we would have an experience to truly remember. One of our favorite activities back home was visiting the BRC Russian bath in New Jersey. Although we are far from home, we found a nice alternative while on the road. On our last evening, we hiked to a temple in the jungle that has a small treehouse sauna. The guidebook stated it was only three kilometers from town, but we ended up walking for almost an hour to get there. We found the temple entrance and befriended a novice monk who brought us directly to the sauna.

We climbed the stairs up and the crazy lady there handed us wraps made of cotton and told us to go change out of our clothes. Underneath the creeky floorboards was a wood-burning furnice that boiled water to steam up the sauna. When you got too hot, you could exit the sauna and find a refreshing cup of hot tea waiting for you. We steamed for over an hour before lying down on cots to get our traditional Lao massages. Besides being an adventure, this fun evening cost each of us only $6. This was a great way to wrap up our stay in the capital (no pun intended).

For more pix: grossmintblog.shutterfly.com