Vientiane!!!!

Since Luang Prabang……I took the most scenic bus ride of my life from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. I had planned on doing some organic farming in Vang Vieng but when I got there I was greeted by…..a tourist mecca. Vang Vieng is absolutely gorgeous – but it’s also possible to watch friends episodes 24 hours a day in a bar and listen to four others from other bars at the same time. I’m not exaggerating. Most of you know that I LOVE friends….but even I was seriously disturbed by that and the alcohol and western comforts driven vibe of the place. So I left the next morning on a kayaking trip to Vientiane. Vientiane is awesome! Nowhere near as beautiful as the rest of Lao because it is a city…..but it’s a peaceful, relaxed, fun city.

I started yesterday with a trip to the Lao National Museum. It’s in a small, run-down building that clearly doesn’t have much of a budget, but the exhibits had me absolutely rapt. Not so much the displays, but the communist rhetoric that is rampant in every piece of text throughout the museum. Luckily the English translations are quite good, so I learnt a lot. I began to see exactly how much this small, poor nation suffered at the hands of outside powers and how this turned Lao to communism. Of course, there was no hint of the many ways that communism has failed the Lao people. Little known fact – in the Vietnam War (Which is called The American War everywhere in SE Asia) there were 1.5 times the amount of air sorties in Lao as compared to Vietnam. The so-called “Secret War” waged in Lao by the US continued to rage after President Johnson halted all bombing raids in North Vietnam in November 1968b – indeed, that just left more firepower to dump on Lao. As a history junkie….I was duly invigorated by the museum!

Random: Lao salespeople……The tuk-tuk drivers sometimes take the chilled-out Lao stereotype to the next level. Many just sit in their hammocks and make no attempt to get your attention as you wander past. Smart business. My favorite salesperson moment happened just a couple hours ago….I was walking outside of Pha That Luang (the national symbol of Lao) and a vendor sitting casually by his stall said, “ice cream?” but when I turned his direction, looked away. There was no one else around…..I didn’t want ice cream……but still!

I’ve also seen a number of impressive Wats and I’ve noticed some features that separate Lao and Thai Wats. In general, Lao Wats are much newer because most were destroyed during The American War. Also, there is often a woman ringing out her hair on the outside of Lao Wats. This comes from a famous story in which that woman made a mote around the Buddhea while he was meditating by ringing her hair and thus protected him from attack. Also, there are two styles of Buddhas that are very common in Lao and apparently only to Lao…..that probably isn’t interesting to you, sorry. One of those sculptures is the “Calling-for-Rain” pose…..a androgenous looking Buddha standing with hands at sides and a cape……really different from other Buddhas I have seen. There was a huge row of them in a temple in Luang Prabang – a bit eerie walking down the middle between them all! I bought a mini version at the massive Talat Sao market in Vientiane!

Talat Sao is a typical Asian market but it is HUGE and it somehow feels very different wandering alone totally alone. I’ve gotten lonely at times, but I’m getting better at coping with it. Being responsible for every little thing I do is not at all easy. It is so much harder than it sounds to simply know what you want. Most of us truly have NO idea what we want to do with ourselves, but we’ve gotten into situations (school, jobs, raising children, being a spouse, having a hobby) that give us ample things we “have” to do each day. Faced with the entire country of Lao at my disposal can be a tad overwhelming…..but I feel like a legitimate backpacker who can fend herself. Whether that means spurring creepy men, finding a guest house, or deciding where to go – I’m getting better at it every day.

It just occurred to me today that it has been a very, very long time since I’ve formed a significant connection to a country or place with no intent of returning. In the US my “happy places” are my home, my grandparents’ home, Steven’s Pass, and Sun Valley…..clearly I will return to all those places. The majority of my international travel is also like that – which is slightly abnormal. I want to return to Gurabo in the Dominican Republic, Kadapukkam in India, and Mae Hong Son in Thailand. While was living in all those places I had the mindset of “I will return” which significantly altered my experience while there. Now I’m here in Laos and love this country but will probably never return. Traveling alone obviously means there’s no one here who knows me outside of Lao. I have become good friends with far more people than I would have expected while here and shared experiences with them but still – I am a blank slate to everyone I meet here. Because of this I feel jealously protective of my Lao experience – it’s entirely made by me and for me – the good and bad.

Also - the French influence is SO apparent here....croissants and baguettes everywhere, the roads are grided centering on turn-abouts, lots of French is used....My personal favorite: there's a monument in the center of "downtown" called Pataxai. It was made from the concrete that the US donated to build a new air strip. Alright. (it's known as "the veritcal runway" among expats.) It looks like the Arc de Triomphe except it has for arches instead of two...and then on a long, wide road headed away from it you hit the Palace in one direction and at an angle, the symbol of the Nation (Eiffel Tower equivalent) in the other. They never quit finished building Pataxi because of wars and communist uprisings but there is a lovely sign at the base of the monument which reads, "From a distance, it appears even less impressive, like a monster of concrete". Charming.

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See you soooooon - in mid-June
~Alice