Laos Day 05-06 In and Around Vientianne

Patuxay Vientianne

The last three days of our trip were spent in Vientianne, although I did not consider the last day as a sightseeing day because our flight back to KL was early. When we arrived on Sunday, it was already late afternoon. Unlike Luang Prabang which is further north and closer to nature, the heat in Vientianne is suffocating. The very first thing we did was to check into the hotel. We stayed in Ramayana hotel @ LanXang Avenue, which is a fantastic hotel although initially we did have some hiccups because Airasia did not notify our booking to them. However, they were kind enough to let us check-in before sorting things out. Thumbs up to them there! Besides, not to be biased, the hotel is definitely one of the better hotels in Vientianne.

We were out of energy on the first day we arrived so we just decided to rest so that we can start afresh the second day.
Early next day, the very first place we visited was the Lao National Museum (Bottom Left). Since we did not have the opportunity to visit the whole country, we decided that the museum would be a great opportunity to get more information on the rest of the regions, including Plain of Jars and Champasak from the museum.

We also visited other interesting places in town like Ho Prakeo (Top Right) where the once reverred Emerald Buddha was located, the Lao national symbol Tat Luang Wat (Bottom) and National Palace (2nd Bottom). After speaking to the tuk-tuk driver, I had the impression that the Lao people feels that the emerald Buddha was taken away from them by the Thais.

Talat Sao Mall (Bottom) is a place where you can shop in town and so is Talat Sao, a huge market just adjacent to the mall. I was told that the owner of the mall is a Malaysian Company...hmm..interesting. We did our bargaining here, buying handicrafts, clothes, souvenirs and even wood carvings. Laos probably has one of the best wood materials in the world, think teak, so their handicrafts are a good buy.

I was feeling exhausted by the time we made our way back to the hotel (Bottom). I needed a long cold shower and a quick nap desperately. After resting and just before we left the hotel vicinity for dinner, we took pictures of Patuxay (Top), the Lao version of Arc De Triomphe, as it is just a stone throw away from the hotel. People are allow to climb up the Patuxay for the splendid view of the city but it closes early at 4pm. The cement for this structure was actually donated by USA to build a landing strip for the airport but it did not materialise. Although feeling tired, we had the best possible choice for our last dinner by ordering sukiyaki, a plate of roasted pork ala Lao style and cold Lao Beer besides Mekong River while watching the sun set (2nd Bottom).

Like they say, "All good things have to come to an end". On the final day of our trip, we boarded the plane back home. I can't wait to get back into my comfy bed at home. Ciaoz.

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