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On Your Bike in Vientiane

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On Your Bike in Vientiane 2 TRAVEL kansaiscene.com | jul 2010 jjulul 2010 | kansaiscene.com FEATURETRAVEL 3 On your bike in the material world. On the second An NGO called the Mines Advisory Further on we looked around Wat Vientiane Group (MAG) have an office a short Sibounheuang which apart from a level are stupas symbolising each of the 30 Buddhist perfections. The final distance along the track. There is a few playing kids was deserted in the level is meant to symbolise Buddhist small area displaying their work afternoon heat. Soon afterwards the enlightenment. clearing unexploded ordnance. Laos track veered off and joined the paved Difficult to miss, Patuxai is Laos’s was heavily bombed by the US during road near the airport. answer to the Arc de Triomphe. Usually the Vietnam War to try to cut the If you are heading back along this countries talk up their tourist sights. North Vietnamese’s Ho Chi Minh route around dusk you should stop Not so here, where the signs introdu- Trail supply route. Many of the bombs, off at the Sunset Bar. Whilst it is in cing the monument speak of it especially bomblets from cluster the guidebooks, it is mainly freque- disparagingly and lay the blame weapons, hit soft ground and failed nted by NGO types. Built on stilts squarely with the past regime. It to detonate. Other munitions come from reclaimed boat timbers it is a is often jokingly referred to as the from various land battles during the great place to watch the sun sink over vertical runway because the concrete last century as various groups wrestled Thailand as children play football on Text & photos: Mark Andrews used was originally earmarked for for power. These unexploded weapons the sandbar below. building a new airport. Gaudily continue to maim and kill hundreds One dinner bargain back towards decorated with traditional motifs and every year. town is Mittapharb Lao Barbeque. YOU WANT TO EXPLORE THE GLORIES OF THE PAST scenes, it is intended to commemorate Once you get by the scattering of For 28,000 kip per person you can those who died in the fight for guesthouses, restaurants and upmarket dine on meat, fish and vegetables. The BUT YOU DON’T HAVE A TIME MACHINE — GET A independence. Unlike the better homes, things get a lot quieter. The BBQ is a cross between Korean and BICYCLE. KS PULLS A WHEELIE IN VIENTIANE, LAOS. known French monument, which it track is punctuated by the odd wooden shabu shabu with the bottom covered resembles from a distance, it has four home, or shack serving as a small in water but a raised area for barbe- ycling along the bank of the Mekong we soon the thanons, (streets or avenues): Fa Ngum, Setthathirat arches. Climbing through two levels restaurant or grocers. Everyone is very quing. The other alternative is the left behind the bustle of the city. Not that and Samsenthai. of stalls selling souvenirs you reach friendly; smiling and saying sabaidii, roadside stalls selling grilled meat and Vientiane could ever really be described as To visit Vientiane’s principal sight you need to travel a the top level and tower which give ‘hello’ in Lao. Even the dogs, though, fish on Th Fa Ngum overlooking the busy. But here, as asphalt gave little outside the city: Pha That Luang, a good view over low-rise Vientiane. seem lazy in the heat. They half cock Mekong. When we were there major Cway to dirt track, life changed down a also a national symbol, is a huge gold- Other sights in the city consist of their heads as if to say I want to bark construction work was being done on gear. Just ten minutes away from the covered structure with a central stupa the Lao National Museum with its at you but it’s just too much effort. the sandbar but this should be finished city, it was as if we had entered the rising to 45m in height and sitting on exhibits celebrating the victory of the We had a late lunch at the upmarket in the second half of this year. countryside. a base that is 69m by 68m. Pathet Lao and introducing the various Kong View restaurant which appeared The capital of Laos is just on the As you enter the site you pass by a ethnic groups and Lao history. There in the middle of nowhere along the other side of the Mekong from Thailand. statue of King Setthathirat who built are also plenty of wats throughout track on the banks of the Mekong. Vientiane really should be pronounced the complex over a Khmer temple the city. The oldest and most visited, Butterflies floated past as we feasted TIPS as Viang Chan, the international spell- when he moved the capital to Vienti- Si Saket, is just opposite the presi- on assorted Lao snacks (38,000 kip), There are no direct flights from ing is inherited from the country’s ane. At one time it was surrounded by dential palace and is a very good which included Luang Prabang sausage Kansai International Airport but former French colonial masters. The four wats (temples) but today only the example. Nearby is Haw Pha Kaeo and riverweed, along with vegetables you can fly to Bangkok, Hanoi, or name comes from Pali, the liturgical ones to the north and south remain. which houses the national museum and cha siu-style pork. Entertainment Ho Chi Minh City and then catch language of Theravada Buddhism, and After being built it was damaged by of religious art. came courtesy of four kids with a net connecting flights or go overland. means Sandalwood City. invading Burmese and Siamese. The However, one of the best things trying to fish in the river whilst a The dry season is November to Vientiane has a history of over 1,000 Siamese invasion of 1828 so badly you can do is hire a bicycle and get more seasoned fisherman pulled his May and is the best time to visit. years and first became the capital in damaged Vientiane that Pha That away from all the tourist areas. If you catch from a net into his long boat. ¥100 = 9,000 kip (approx). 1560 when King Setthathirat of the Lan Luang was abandoned before being want to hire something better than Attracted by a 1952 Oldsmobile a LINKS Xang kingdom changed it from Luang rediscovered by the French. the mama chari (10,000 kip/day) I little further down the track I stumbled Lao Tourist Board: Prabang. However, its location has meant What you see today is largely the ended up with, get to the shops early. across P&P Service Centre run by www.tourismlaos.org that it has suffered invasions by the result of efforts by the French in the Follow Th Fa Ngum upriver until the Australian, Peter Calam. In Laos off Kong View restaurant Siamese, Burmese and Chinese. When the French made 1930s to rectify the problems they caused with their earlier main road swings around a corner. If and on since 1975, he talked of the www.kongview.com Laos a colony they once again made Vientiane the capital. 1900 restoration. Surrounded by a high wall cloister for you follow the small lane that conti- changes he’s seen. Today he earns a MAG Today the population numbers over 200,000. However protection, the gold-coloured monument rises three levels. nues along the river this soon becomes living servicing vehicles from all the www.maginternational.org/laopdr most tourists congregate in the area concentrated along The first level has four small prayer halls and represents just a dirt track. NGOs who are the lifeblood of Laos. .
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