Vientianne is just like every other place in Laos- quiet and peaceful. When I first arrived I was impressed by real cars driving around, but I very fast figured, that once you step away from the main street, there is no car left, but the same old motorbikes and tuc-tucs..
Town seems kind of empty. Lots of Thai-tourist visiting the main attractions and lots of western-tourist, but everybody is just hanging around the same spots. I don't know where the people of Vientianne are :)
It's getting colder here in the north too. Only like twenty-something degrees, not the up to 40 like in the south. Pretty relaxing to just sit at the Mekong, eating good food, reading a book.
Ofcourse I visited the gateway and the golden stupa, slowly bicycling my way through town. Nice enough, but not very special..
The National Museum on the other hand was real big time! They had a whole room where they showed all the gifts the gouvernment recieved from severeal countrys. Communist countries mostly :)
I went east, to Phonsavan. The main attraction here is the Plain Of Jars, big stone-vases lying around and nobody knows, where they come from and what's their use.. There are theories that they were used to byry bodies, for sacrifice or just to storage rice, but no evidence found..
I myself figured it probably was a big contest "who makers the biggest vase out of stone" and after all the years they are just scattered around..
Since tyhe bus-ride here took such a long time I spent the next day in town, just hanging around. And as I said before- THAT is not difficult to do in Laos :) You know like talking to students, who want to improve their english, watching the old guys playing petang (or whatever it's called)..
Next day I went further east, to Sam Neua. The area is known because of the spectacular mountains all around, but also for all the re-education-camps who existed or even still exist.
The driving here was stunning, though it took ages to make the 200 kilometers..
I visited some caves where the Lao communists had their headquarters during the war and went to a place where there are stones scattered around. The book says it reminds of Stonehenge, but I don't know.. Standing stones.. If nobody had told me, that it was special, I wouldn't have seen it..
Now I go back to Vientianne. Meet Camilla. To avoid the long bus-ride back I'm going to fly. Pretty excited about what kind of plane it's going to be. Czech-made they say..
