Vientiane

January 21^st–22^nd, 2025 

For my flight in the morning, I had asked Simon to pick me up to take me to the airport, even though it would be slower than a car or van as his motorcycle tuk tuk isn’t the speediest thing.  However, I wanted to give him the business as he was a good guy, always on time and friendly, and he had had a slow week.  It was over an hour drive out to the Siem Reap International Airport, only 40 kilometres away, but it was a nice ride as I soaked in my last bit of time in Cambodia.  Arkoun Cambodia! (thanks)

 

The airport was built in 2006 but seemed newer.  It was built to resemble a temple from the outside and it’s quite spacious inside.  Maybe it helped that there weren’t that many flights so not that many passengers in the airport.

 

The cool temple-looking airport of Siam Reap.

With some statues inside...this one like the happy faces of Bayon Temple that I visited.

My flight was delayed by almost 2 hours, and I started to worry that I might not make my connection in Bangkok for the second leg to the capital of Laos, Vientiane  I was flying into Don Mueang International Airport but had to get across Bangkok to the other airport, Suvarnabhumi.  It’s a pretty to do with public transit, and thankfully I had done the various pieces of it before so I knew what to do and where to go, but it would take over an hour.  Additionally, and this was the wild card, I had to get through customs in Don Mueang and who knows how long that would take.  I had budgeted five and a half hours…but now I had just lost almost two of them.  Interesting side note about Don Mueang, it’s considered one of the oldest operating airports in the world.  The Royal Thai Air Force started using it in 1914 and the first commercial flights were in 1924!

Take off.

Flying over the Cambodian countryside.

Nearing Bangkok.  You might have to zoom in to see it, but these are rice paddies that bleed muddy water out into the ocean.

That square and the bit to the left of it is the massive temple of Wat Phra Dhammakaya...it's huge!

Landing in Bangkok, seeing the Nok Airlines "bird-like" planes...I think they look awesome!

Amazingly it took me all of 15 minutes to get through immigration and get my backpack to leave Don Mueang Airport.  Wow.  That made me feel better.  In the end I made it to Suvarnabhumi with a bit more that 2 hours before the scheduled flight, which is cutting it close for an international flight, but by luck, the flight to Laos was also delayed by 20 minutes. 

 

The terminal at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok.

It is a nice terminal.

It was an easy one-hour flight to Vientiane.  I withdrew some local money (Kips) from an ATM, bought a sim card for my phone and got a taxi through Laos’ version of Grab, an app called Loca.  I checked into my hotel and shortly went to bed.

For my one full day in Vientiane (which I had read online is enough as the city isn’t that captivating), I planned to walk around for the late morning and afternoon to see some sights.  My first stop was the Patuxay or Victory Gate.  It was a short distance from my guesthouse as it was called Patuxay Place. 

 

Near by guesthouse...the first time I've seen a hammer & sickle flag flown at a DQ!

The war monument was built between 1957 and 1968 to commemorate those who fought in the struggle for independence from France.  It was an impressive structure and for a small fee, you could walk up some stairs to the top, well, almost the top.  It was equivalent of walking up a seven-storey building.  Some of the lower internal floors had an exhibition with pictures and some information about the building and Laos’ past.  There were decent views of the city from the top.  It was well worth the price of admission.

The Victory Gate or properly known as Patuxai.

Unlike the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, there are arches out the sides to the east and west as well as north to south.  It's also taller than the Arc by 5 meters, but the arches aren't as big since the Arc doesn't have the bit on the top with Patuxai does.

Looking down the main boulevard of the capital.

An even better view from the top platform that you can visit.

Looking to the north.  That's a fountain in the middle that wasn't in operation.

The view from the top of the Victory Gate.

The ceiling under the middle of the arches.

Down the main boulevard...lots of big bank buildings.

There must be a lack of parking...as there were main cars parked on the sidewalk.

Looking back at the Patuxai, it's a speck in the middle of the photo.

That's one big "Lucky Cat".  They also remind me of this hilarious New Zealand public service commercial about "drug driving".

A shopping mall.

Next, I had to make a slight detour to check this place out...even if it was just to walk around it.  Why?!?  Well it's called "That Dam Stupa"!!!

Having previously worked for a company called "Power Measurement", I had to take a photo of these electrical shenanigans.

A temple under construction.

Listen up "Gentlement"!  A funny sign in the bathroom at the restaurant...

After some lunch at a French café called “La Terrasse”, I walked a few blocks to the “river front” (the water was so far away) to see a big statue of a former king.

A random set of dinosaurs in a park near the river.

The King Anouvong Statue.

He led the Lao Rebellion against Siam (now Thailand) in 1826-28.

The "river front" in Vientiane.

Some random little temple.

I thought this was a bit odd.  Not sure which came first, the trees or the tiled sidewalk...but seems a bit counterproductive for pedestrians as you can see by the trail that has developed.

Next, I headed to the COPE Museum.  COPE stands for: Cooperative Orthotic & Prosthetic Enterprise.  During the Vietnam War, the American government was trying to stop weapons from being transported along the Ho Chi Minh Trail from the north to the south.  It was a network of trails and roads, some of which passed through Laos.  Trying to eradicate the supply route, the US dropped more bombs on Laos than were dropped on Germany and Japan in WWII!  And technically Laos wasn’t at war with America. 

A high percentage of the bombs were anti-personnel cluster bombs, which before hitting the ground, would open up and release hundreds of smaller, round bombs known in Laos as “bombies”.

 

"Bombies" - they are the size of an orange and 270 million of them were dropped on Laos by the US governmant.  Approximately 30% of them did not detonate.  They tend to explode if you hit them with a shovel or hoe while farming, kids playing toss with them or even from heat from a cooking fire. 

This has caused thousands of innocent civilians to lose their lives, but more commonly, limbs.  And it still happens today.

This was interesting. It's a boxe with a mirror betweent the two halves.  Amputees often experience "phantom pain", when the brain still receives signals from the damaged nerve of a missing limb which feels totally real.  A guy I used to work with in Canada lost his leg from just below the knee, and he said that it drove him nuts at first.  The idea with this box is to fool the brain into thinking that you can scratch or massage your good arm and it looks like it is your missing limb and it provides some relief.  Ingenious.

 

A statue outside of the COPE museum.

Hard to see unless you zoom in, but it's an "Indoor Stadium for Disabled People".

The museum was small, but worth the visit. 

My last stop of the day was to Pha That Luang, a golden stupa thought to have been built in the 3^rd century AD.   It is generally regarded as the most important national monument in Laos as well as a national symbol and it’s on one of their bills, but I walked around it in about 10 minutes, and that’s being generous, and then it was time to call it a day.

It's just too bad you can't peel back the gold and there was chocolate underneath...

Duly noted.  I've often been guilty of "wrong cultural dancing".

I headed back to the area near where I had lunch at La Terrasse as that seemed to be the happening area of the city, at least for Westerners.  I enjoyed a beer, at dinner and then headed back to my room.  

Love this aquarium in the "La Terrasse" restaurant, which I frequented.

Tomorrow, I have a train to catch to Luang Prabang.