Vientiane, the capital city of Laos

We were picked up early by a tuk tuk to take us to the bus station to catch our VIP bus to Vietiane, a supposedly 10 hour trip over the mountains and then south. The bus was quite large with comfortable seating which proved to be useful as we began our journey. We quickly exited the river valley and started our five hour drive through the mountains in one of our most slow moving and winding bus trips we have ever taken. It wasn't long before we could hear people starting to vomit and moan as we swayed around corners and everyone hung on! 

Then the back tires started to smoke and the bus would pull over where they could find water and spray down the tires...not very comforting on high mountain passes!

However the scenery was stunning...

There were times though we were both concerned we were not going to make it to our destination as even when we got through the mountains and on the straight road it was very narrow with stretches of dirt road, but over 11 hours later we rolled into the bus station and joined other travelers for a 10 km ride into the city. I think we were all relieved to be there!

As we reached the city centre we were quite surprised to see how modern and bright it looked...

This Namphou Fountain in the Center of an entertainment district on one of the main streets. 

 

It seems there were bright lights everywhere and a lot of people on the go, though we were so tired we found our guesthouse, something to eat, in this case pizza and went to bed.

We were pleased to see that our guesthouse was only a 5 min walk to most everywhere so the next morning fueled by a good breakfast served by the owner of the guesthouse we were ready to go for the day. The owner, a Malaysian woman who was visiting from Penang was very interesting as she told us about her life and her decision to invest in Laos. As we have already noticed Laos is one of the most expensive countries we have visited and she confirmed this when she told us she spent over 1 million US dollars to buy her building four years ago and that was before renovations.

The top tourist attraction in Vietiane is COPE, Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise, which works to ensure that people with physical disabilities have local, free access to a quality, nationally-managed rehabilitation service.  To do this in a sustainable manner COPE’s strategy has been to partner long term with the Government of Laos' (GOL) Center for Medical Rehabilitation (CMR) through which all Government’s physical rehabilitation work, excluding military personnel, takes place. 

An art installation built from scrap metal left in the fields after the bombings.

Here is where we learned more about the effect of the bombing on Laos as this organization works to provide treatment to the many victims who suffer when the bombies explode. It is estimated that at least one person a day is killed from this. There are many more people who are seriously injured and require ongoing treatment. At this Center we learned more of the victim's stories and the impact on their families and villages. There were powerful displays and documentaries which we took time to listen to and try to understand the situation here. To see and hear how a farmer in the field is maimed and blinded so he can no longer care for his family, to the little boys who hunt for scrap metal and are killed while doing it, to the villagers who need to expand their fields so they can feed their families but they are covered with bombs. It was heartbreaking to think that indiscriminate bombing in the 1960s have such a long lasting effect on one of the poorest countries in the world.

The red areas on the map show the greatest concentration of bombs. From 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos during 580,000 bombing missions—equal to a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24-hours a day, for 9 years.

Another installation built from a cluster bomb and it's contents.

Here they make a lot of prosthetics, but there is much more work that needs to be done...

After that sobering visit we took to walking around to explore the city which has a population of approximately 200,00 and discovered it has a lot of energy and seems to be a city that is progressing. There are massive, new malls that are being built with Chinese money...

Huge construction projects...

This will be a new World Trade Center where the country hopes to attract international business and conferences.

Lots of street art...

Even Anna and Elsa under the palm trees...

It is also obvious that the French cultural influence survivies in the city, the legacy of the colonial period which lasted from the late 19th century until the 1950s. It can be seen in the Royal Palace built for a former French governor...

 

The wide boulevards built by the French...

And a Arc d' Triumph...

The National Cultural Centre, they have a symphony here...

There are also lots of different cuisines to try...

Parisian style cafes...

And of course on every corner, fresh baguettes...

We even found a Diary Queen, our first ice cream in three months! I look longingly at the homemade ice cream on the street stalls with very interestingly favours but always pass on them. We both enjoyed our chocolate covered cone!

Here are some street scenes...

As we were stopped for a snack this shopkeeper was having a manicure and pedicure done by a lady who rides around with her supplies on her bicycle.

There are monks everywhere...

Always ladies on the street selling their goods...

And the large Night Market which was really more for locals, but interesting to sit and watch the people go by...

The streets were bustling at night...

There are also lots of temples and stupas here like the Black Stupa which reportedly was once covered with gold leaf...

Entrance to one of the temples...

Some street scenes...

However we did not have enough time to see much here as I listened to people say there wasn't much to do and see here but we disagree and wish we had booked a couple more nights. We also lost a day as Don came down with gastro here. Again, hopefully this will be the only bout for both of us!

Northern Laos has been wonderful from the trip on the boat to Luang Prabang, a wonderful stay there and now Vietinane. A lot of travellers stay in the North and never venture South but we are going tomorrow on the overnight bus, should be another adventure!