Vientiane

Had a lovely bus ride from Vang Vieng to Vientiane, the scenery was great, lots of room until the bus filled up with more locals (one woman with two big ducks), then a load of school kids. One of the kids sat next to me and asked "what is your name?" he was learning English so I spent the rest of the trip tutoring him and he taught me a little Lao, while the other kids laughed at us, was very fun. Had a bit of trouble finding a guest house once arriving in town as most were full or overpriced, a nice but little dodgy guy on motorbike offered to take me on back of bike with backpack to his friends guest house, was OK so decided to stay there two nights. Spent the night wandering around town, got a massage instead of dinner, sat at a cafe next to the Mekong they are doing major earth works on the river banks as last year in the monsoon the city was almost flooded. In the morning I set off on a tour of some top sights in the city, First was the Black stupa (Wat Dam) which is inhabited by a seven headed dragon which protected Vientiane from invasion by Thai army. Next was Patuxai, Vientiane's Arc de Triomphe which was never fully completed due to the countries hard past, I climbed up to the top for a good view of the city. Next was the golden Pha That Luang, It is generally regarded as the most important national monument in Laos and a national symbol, there guys outside selling cages of birds which you could release for good luck, I was told later the birds are trained to fly back into the cages after, bit of a scam! I also visited COPE - Co-operative Orthotic Prosthetic Enterprise Center who provided support for people with disabilities in Laos, particularly those injured by unexploded bombs and bombies which are still heavily distributed around Laos. They were holding an exhibition with photos, videos and pieces of bombs which have been collected, I was deeply affected by the whole thing. After seeing the people and the way they live and imagining what they have been through it is just so horrible and to think they are still being killed and injured today because these bombs, particularly unexploded cluster bombs which kids pick up as toys then blow up in their hands. There is more information online at http://www.copelaos.org/ if anyone wants to read, I was thinking it would be good to raise some money for a donation if anyone has any ideas please let me know, last year a bunch of people rode from Vientiane to Luang Prabang.



Wat Dam, Patuxai, Pha That Luang, Little Birds for Sale, Map of Bombing in Laos, One of the Bombies Which Kids Pick Up, Selection of Bomb Shells.