Another Weekend in Vientiane

Another Weekend in Vientiane, Lao PRD

I began my morning at a funky little place called the Temple View Cafe, where I had an incredibly delicious Laotian breakfast.

I ordered a Lao meatball, a pork meatball cooked with tomato, egg, and cheese and served with slices of toasted baguette. It was incredible! Seriously delicious! I also ordered a hot cappuccino, because 'when in Laos, do as the Laotians!' You can't visit Vientiane without enjoying the amazing coffee.

The Temple View Cafe was aptly named. Sitting by the window gave me a nice view of the lush grounds of a small local temple just across the narrow road.

After breakfast, I walked through the city center to the Ho Phra Keao, one of the former sites of the Emerald Buddha. The Emerald Buddha is quite a storied artifact, said to have originated in ancient Ceylon before passing successively to the Lanna kingdom of Chiang Rai, the Kingdom of Chiang Mai, Vientiane, Ayutthaya, until it finally reached its current residence at Bangkok's Grand Palace.

 Now, Ho Phra Keao is a small museum with a few ancient sculptures and artifacts inside that you can visit for a 10,000 kip ticket (just over a dollar).

Afterwards, I crossed the street to Wat Si Saket, the oldest temple in Vientiane. I liked Laos the last time I visited, but it's really nice to visit again. I have a much better feel for Vientiane on my second visit. It's small enough that I can get around on food, and I know where things are now. It was easy to navigate my way to these old temples without a map.

Even though there's a good bus route with great maps, I don't mind walking at all. It's about 10 degrees cooler than Bangkok right now. I don't even mind that my room doesn't have air-conditioning. I really don't need it right now, despite how hot it is back in Thailand.

Wat Si Saket was nearly empty. It's not really a big tourist season right now, and anyway, it was a Monday morning. That meant that I had the whole place nearly to myself.

Being here though really did make me wonder what the rest of the country is like. Vientiane is by far the  biggest city, but it's only one of the top sites in Laos. I've been meaning to pay a visit to Luang Prabang, but I've never made it up there. Hopefully I can see more of Laos soon. I really love how quiet and peaceful the country feels.

In the evening I walked down to the Patuxai, the Laotian Gate of Victory. I had really wanted to see it lit up at night. It was every bit as impressive as I had hoped!

I guess the thing that really struck me on this visit to Laos was just how quiet Vientiane was. It was only around 7:00, but the streets were deserted and nearly all of the restaurants and cafes were closing for the night. Even Patuxai, which I would have thought could have been a popular evening hangout, was more or less empty except for a few young people jogging around the surrounding park.

Maybe that's what I like about Vientiane. It's so much quieter even than Siem Reap. Maybe this tiny little city of coffee and croissants should be my new go-to visa run destination. And because I've seen pretty much every site in town, it gives me an excuse to be lazy and relax with a cup of coffee and a good book instead of rushing around to go sightseeing. That sounds just fine to me.