Charlotte and I spent Wednesday & Thursday (19th & 20th Aug) in Vientiane whilst Andrew headed off to the 'jungle' to do a dam inspection. It was HOT but we managed to cool off in the swimming pool after doing a bit of the touristy thing in the mornings.
Vientiane is the capital of Laos and it's the largest city in the country. It lies on the banks of the Mekong River near the border with Thailand. Vientiane became the capital in 1563 due to fears of a Burmese invasion. Vientiane was the administrative capital during French rule and, due to economic growth in recent times, is now the economic centre of Laos. The estimated population of the city is 760,000 (2015).
Vientiane, Laos' laid-back capital, mixes French colonial architecture with Buddhist temples such as the golden, 16th-century Pha That Luang, a national symbol. Along broad boulevards and tree-lined streets are notable shrines including Wat Si Saket, which features thousands of Buddha images, and Wat Si Muang, built on a Hindu shrine. Many bakeries, cafes and villas seem straight out of 19th-century Paris. {a bit of info from Google}
On the Wednesday, we stayed close to the hotel…venturing to a few shops nearby where we managed to buy the odd thing here and there. We found a wonderful cafe which sold delicious cold coffee (needed when it's well over 30!) and yummy western pastries.
seen on/off/from the street…..
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| Laos' flag |
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| please note that the temperature felt like 42!! |
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| the most excellent coffee sold here! |
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the pool at our hotel
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We ate dinner {again} at the fabulous restaurant we'd found with Andrew the night before - excellent Laos food!
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| the white blur you can see in the photo is part of a plastic bag - as the fan spins so does the plastic which chases the flies away! the pool at our hotel |
COPE is a non-profit organisation. COPE
http://www.copelaos.org was create to provide UXO survivors {UXO - unexploded ordnance - bombs, grenades, land mines left over from wars etc} with the care and support they required, namely by way of orthotic and prosthetic devices. There is a rehabilitation & visitor's centre in Vientiane - Charlotte and I took a walk there on the Thursday morning. The visitor's centre is fascinating & we spent an hour or so walking around it. I also found it incredibly moving! I also cried! I think - no wait, I used to take my limbs for granted…that they are just 'there'...attached to my body and I can still use them….walking around the COPE visitor's centre was a reality check really - I may not loose a limb to a land mine or an unexploded bomb - however, I could quite easily loose one in an accident….I don't take walking on my own two legs for granted anymore {nor the use of my arms for that matter}
Here are photos I took at the visitor's centre {using my iPhone}
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| outside the entrance to COPE |
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| interesting facts! like more than 580 000 bombing missions were conducted over Lao PDR {People's Democratic Republic} that's one bombing mission every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day for nine year; nine years people!! |
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| where the bombs fell…..{some info next photo below} |
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| there were a lot of drawings with the 'story' typed below….I did a lot of crying reading these! |
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| description below…. |
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| prosthetics collected from patients during the past 5 years or so - a number of them were home-made as some people were unaware that COPE can help - so they made their own as they still had to get around! some of the 'legs' hanging in the photo are only 2 years 'old' as that's how long they last for before they are worn out and need replacing {6-9 months for growing children} |
On the Thursday morning, we hired bicycles and and headed over to the "Patuxay/Patuxai" or "Victory Gate of Vientiane". This gate can be found in the northeastern end of the LaneXang Avenue. It's a large structure not too dissimilar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris {well, according to reliable sources!} We locked up our bikes and climbed the stairs to the seventh floor where the upper viewing galleries are. The gate was built between 1957 and 1968 using funds from the U.S. government. The gate is sometimes called the 'vertical runway' as the cement used was intended for the construction of a new airport! There are four arches - facing North, South, East & West. The four corner towers and the 5th central tower that crowns the arch symbolises the five Buddhist principles of thoughtful amiability {friendliness}, flexibility, honesty, honour and prosperity. We paid an entrance fee of 3000 Kip {25p/38 US cents} to check out the views of the city from the top! I am sorry, but I forgot to take a photo of the gate from a distance!! If you'd like to know what the gate looks like - here's a link to 'images' on google
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=victory+gate+of+vientiane&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP1KbInoHLAhVWBI4KHTEjAbwQsAQIKw&biw=1280&bih=579
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| sorry about the 'light' at the bottom of the photo : the detail in the ceiling was quite impressive |
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| detail |
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| one level below the top level |
next post…..Bangkok in less than 48 hours! till then….
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