Laos begins to wow us

1.13.12
I'm not usually one for superstitions, but let's just say that the start of my trip happened to fit people's expectations for Friday the 13th. On the bus to HCMC I had a moment of panic when I thought that I had left my wallet back in my room. Fortunately, it was in my backpack, but my hands were shaking for a good while thereafter.

When I got to the bus station in HCMC I was immediately spotted by my newly dubbed 'xe-homie' (a xe om is a motorbike taxi). The first time he took me somewhere he wouldn't accept my bargain and I felt overcharged. The second time I didn't recognize him until it was too late, and our final bargain was once again too high. However, when we got to our destination he re-evaluated and charged me less than we had agreed upon. This time, he saw me and cried "my friend!" and gave me a very reasonable price to the airport.

Back to Friday the 13th drama. I am one million times thankful that I decided to get to the airport early and check in right away. After finally making it to the front of the unmoving line I was told that since I did not bring the credit card I used to purchase my ticket, I would have to cancel my original one and buy a new ticket. I was told that I could get a full refund on the original ticket, but that the new ticket would likely be more expensive. I had to leave the check-in line and go to the ticketing line. I waited there, found out that the price was actually the same, and almost went through an entire transaction and then was told that I could not use this card to make the purchase because it says "Capital One Customer" instead of my name on it. Sooo I had to leave that line, find the ATM two floors down, get enough cash to pay for the ticket, then go back upstairs and get back in line and try again. Third time's the charm, I guess. Then I had to go back to the check-in line. Finally, finally, all was well and Kelly and I were on our way to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

I naively expected Laos to feel more or less the same as Vietnam. I mostly just figured that since Vietnam is so different from the US, a neighboring country should be equally different and therefore feel generally similar. Instead, my first night in Laos made me realize just how hard it will probably be to readjust to life outside of Vietnam. I naturally chose chopsticks over the fork, and couldn't leave my plate sitting on the table in front of me; I had to hold it up near my mouth. I missed eating out of a small bowl and I was comforted by the roll of toilet paper serving as napkins. I was perplexed as to what to do with my wadded up napkins since there was no trashcan under the table and the place was too nice for me to just drop it on the floor, as I would in Vietnam. Over dinner I enjoyed the acclaimed Lao Beer. Admittedly, the lager was not terribly inspiring, but the dark lager was a happy reminder that beer can actually taste like something.

1.14.12
The next day illuminated even more differences between Laos and Vietnam. Right away, the prevalence of cars and minimal presence of motorbikes was striking. Kelly and I found ourselves struggling to cross the street when it doesn't feel like live-action Frogger. Regularly spaced traffic lights, obedience of conventional traffic regulations, and ostensibly silent horns were further baffling.

We embarked on a guidebook-guided tour of the city. We passed by the Presidential Palace on the way to our first stop, Wat Si Saket (wats are Buddhist temple complexes). Wat Si Saket is known for being the oldest standing temple in Vientiane and for having thousands of Buddhas. As our first wat, it was particularly striking.

Central temple, with renowned murals inside

Our introduction to the vibrant and intricate wat decor

Large Buddhas and two small Buddhas in each alcove.

We stopped by a large market, but I missed being somewhere where I know the language (and where the exchange rate is more in my favor). Almost everyone spoke English, but things just feel better when you can speak to people in their own language. We passed by That Dam, the Black Stupa, which happened to be next to the US Embassy, and had lunch nearby.

I'm the tiny speck in the lower center

Next, we went to Wat In Paeng, perhaps the most breathtaking of the day's wats. It was here that I began to feel a profound appreciation for being in Laos. Jumping onto Kelly's Tet travel bandwagon brought me into the midst of a beautiful new world I could never have imagined. A young monk came right over to talk to me, perhaps intrigued by my vaguely Asian features. He took a shine to me, and was happy to both practice his English and tell us all about himself and monk life. He told us that he was from Luang Prabang, but that there is no monk college there, so he had to move to Vientiane. I learned that I really knew nothing about Buddhist monkhood. They wake up early to receive alms, pray, and clean. In the evening they meditate for about 15 minutes. In between they study and have a lot of free time that, as far as I can tell, they use like any normal person would. They say that you can be a monk in the morning and not a monk in the evening; you can join and leave monkhood as you wish, as many times as you want. He also helped us practice Lao numbers, because Kelly and I were both tired of not being able to say anything other than hello (sabaidee) and thank you (kop jai) in Lao.

View of the main temple and entrance to the wat

Top of the archway over the wat gate, seen above

Gilded, mosaiced, muraled temple entrance

From there we went to Wat Ong Teu Mahawihan, the monk's college, and Wat Haisok.

Wat Haisok, as seen from the top of a tower in the complex

And then, the surreal and serene went to another level. We had read about Wat Sok Pa Luang, which is known for its herbal sauna and has guided meditation on Saturday afternoon. As luck would have it, it was Saturday. We started with seated meditation, during which we were supposed to focus on the flow of our breath. I did realize how much my ears revealed the longer my eyes were closed. Next, we moved on to walking meditation, and I was much better at that. Everyone was walking slowly, with purpose and awareness, I suppose, but I felt like that would alter what I was supposed to be observing. The constant change of walking helped me keep my focus, and giving conscious attention to visual distractions felt valid within the objective of fully experiencing the moment. I watched a spider wrap its prey; I walked on different surfaces to note the differences; I walked in circles on the sand to see how my footsteps came to overlay on each other. Then we went back to sitting. My mindfulness was more established by then, and it was easier this time around. I observed the erratic swarm of my thoughts, how one always rushed in to fill the void I tried to create. After that we took on the sauna. You might ask why one would choose to enter a steam bath when it could be said that the last five months of my life have been an unending steam bath, and I asked myself the same question. However, once I entered the wooden hut and breathed in the cloud of tea, I had to admit that it felt good. After a few ins and outs in the sauna, we decided it was time for our massage. Cue the best massage of my life (1 of 2 ever, but still).

The night wasn't over yet. We went to a night market for some authentic Lao food, and chose spring rolls, fried spring rolls, and big balls of rice that get broken up and mixed with lemon juice and herbs. We swung by Pha That Luang, the national symbol of Laos. After that we discovered that by that time of night it wasn't so easy to get tuk-tuks, the default mode of public/tourist transportation. Suddenly our meager Vietnamese abilities felt like a treasure trove compared to our nonexistent knowledge of Lao. We decided to give it a shot and tried to ask a woman for help, in English. To our surprise and delight, she informed us that she was Vietnamese. Communication! Success! She couldn't really tell us anything other than that we were up a creek, but some time after starting the walk back to the hotel we managed to hail a passing tuk-tuk and make it home.

not so foreign

Rice plate. We asked for 'just a little spicy' and got about six peppers each.

Rice balls. Each one turns into a rice plate as seen above.

Pha That Luan

1.15.12
Today was our last day in Vientiane, so we tried to get around to the last few things on our list. We rented bikes (yes, I biked!) to expedite our commute to Patuxay, the victory arch. Despite the self-deprecating sign saying that it is "a huge structure resembling the Arc de Triomph" that, "from a closer distance, it appears less impressive, like a monster of concrete," it was a sight worth seeing. Seven stories up, the top provided a great view of the city.

Patuxay

View of the plaza below

After that we met up with Leslie and John, two ETAs teaching in Laos, for lunch. It was great to meet new people, trade stories, find differences and similarities, and get an insight into Lao culture. They also introduced us to a new dish, tam mak hung, a papaya salad. They also gave us advice about what to make our next and final stop. Off to buddha park we went.

Papaya salad

Fulbrighters

We surrendered our bikes and took a tuk-tuk the 20-odd kilometers out of town. The long, bumpy, hair-tangling, dust-coating ride took us past the Lao-Thai friendship bridge and the Lao Beer Brewery. We also zipped past innumerable wats that made us wish we had more time to explore. Buddha park itself was a unique sight to behold. It was built in the 1950s and is full of Hindu and Buddhist statues made to look ancient. Though it houses a small temple, it is mostly a photo-op playground for locals and tourists. 

On the tuk-tuk

View of Thailand across the Mekong

Not pictured: brewery fragrance

Buddha park

Chilling on the most iconic of the statues

Clearly, I needed a picture on the cricket statue

In the evening we went to the night market, and even though we didn't do much shopping we made a grand discovery. The best thing since sliced bread: grilled sticky rice on a stick. It was like a hot, savory, fried rice popsicle. We had to go back for another. We also got to try Lao Beer Gold, the third of the three Lao Beers.

Pure genius