After the quiet market towns of southern Laos Vientiane felt every bit like the capital city.  On the road in on a tuk tuk, shared with an old Buddhist monk, there were many more cars and people. Compared though with other capitals in South East Asia, like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, Vientiane with a population of only a quarter of a million is still incredibly laid back and a nice place to be in.  Our route down the main dual carriageway took as past the Patuxai, a very grand monument reminiscent of the Arc de Triumphe in Paris.

The national museum of religious art is housed in a beautiful old pagoda, built originally in 1565, that was once the personal chapel for the Royal Family. We spent several hours admiring the impressive collection of bronze Buddhas and appreciating the air of serenity and sense of reverence maintained within the museum. Nearby we chatted with a young monk as we visited Wat Si Saket.  The interesting feature of this pagoda is that there are hundreds of small niches in the interior walls displaying over two thousand silver and ceramic Buddhas, some more than 400 years old.

Although Vientiane is rich in history with many significant Buddhist Pagodas it is also a modern city with broadband internet cafés, really nice bakeries and a wide range of modern apartment blocks and good restaurants. Like all the Lao people we had met so far, the inhabitants of Vientiane were friendly and helpful. Needing a spare part for our laptop we were directed to the main Dell stockist in town.    

As the sun sank lower in the sky over the Mekong and the sky slowly transformed from blue to a delicate pink we strolled toward Pha That Luang.  This huge golden stupa, the most important national monument in Laos, resembled a large golden pyramid surrounded by a congregation of golden spires. It is said that Indian adherents first built a stupa here in the third century BC to house a piece of Buddha’s breast bone and that there have been religious buildings here since then.    

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Having experienced the local ‘big’ bus we decided to continue our journey north to Thahkek on even more basic transport.  This time it was the local minibus, a form of transport which allows you to get very much closer to your fifteen or sixteen fellow passengers – and their livestock. Our hand luggage was used to fence in three chickens under the seat we shared with a couple of other people. The art of comfort involves having two alternate people leaning forward whilst two lean back, then you change over as fatigue sets in over the four hour journey.  At the comfort stop at a convenient wood the men walk one way and the women another. The traditional Lao sarong or sin comes into its own in these situations as they are roomy enough to form a kind of tent for the woman to squat decorously and without embarrassment. The bus services in southern Laos are actually very good.  Buses are hourly and the can be flagged down anywhere along their route and people are dropped off where they want.

Despite the towns being very quiet there are a range of places to stay from very basic guesthouses with dormitories to hotels with en-suite facilities and air conditioning. The people are pleasant, friendly and not at all pushy. One expatriate Canadian commented that PDR in the country’s title stood for “Please Don’t Rush.” It is certainly a very gentle country. 

We were following the road north which traced the course of the Mekong with Thailand on the far bank. So again the town of Thahkek was on the banks of the river and again we were living next to a pagoda, in the Mekong Hotel, what else? 

We met Khamchan Phimmaha a teacher and rice farmer. Both he and his wife were teachers and whilst he supplemented the family income by driving a tuk tuk his wife looked after their three daughters, three, eight and eleven.  Khamchan taught Lao language so during a one day tour of caves in the wonderful limestone karst mountains around Thahkek he expanded our vocabulary a bit.  The mountains, covered by trees and thick vegetation rose up sharply from the river plain giving an arresting vista of layers, sharp jagged peaks like dragons teeth disappearing into the distance.  The caves were every bit as spectacular as the caves we visited in Vietnam but there were very few tourists. One cave had been discovered only in the last twenty years by locals looking for bat roosts. In the cave a 600 year old Buddha statue was found. So the cave is now a Buddhist shrine where the original statue has been supplemented by hundreds of others. It was a very atmospheric place dimly lit with candles and incense sticks. A woman chanted blessings and rubbed her palm over a huge brass gong which filled the cave with an otherworldly pure tone.

Outside the cave, over lunch, we chatted to local visitors from Savannakhet where we had just come from and Vientiane, where we where heading to next. Lunch was roasted small green tree frogs on a stick, with sticky rice. They were eaten whole, the bones crunched nicely and they tasted quite good.  

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Dominating the skyline from the River Mekong a huge rocky tower drew the attention of the Hindu builders of Wat Phou (Wat Poo) well over a thousand years ago.  The tower thought to resemble a phallus was especially auspicious to the worship of the Hindu god, Shiva.  So this became the site for a temple complex built around the same time as Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, it is the most important ancient temple site in Laos.

Our journey from Pakxe (Pakse) took us to the riverside town of Champasak, where we crossed the Mekong on a local ferry.  This was two wooden plank canoes lashed together with a wooden platform on them to support people and the odd motorbike. On the far bank we travelled the remaining fifteen kilometres to Wat Phou on a motor bike with an open sidecar for two people.  Not only did this give us a great view of the surrounding villages and the people living there but it allowed us to chat and laugh at the jokes of the very friendly driver.

Nestling below the gigantic towering rock phallus the ancient ruined complex was quiet and peaceful. Between an avenue of white blossom the ancient stone steps climbed high up to the atmospheric main temple. There were clear connections with the Angkor temples, Hindu inspired and later dedicated to Buddhism. From there the view of the valley and the river beyond was magnificent.

Back in Pakxe we savoured a bottle of Laos Beer and barbecued pork on a stick whilst watching the sunset over the Mekong and Thailand on the opposite bank. 

The next day we travelled by another local bus to Savannakhet. A Pagoda festival was in full swing in one village we passed through and the bus stopped to let the participants share the event with the bus passengers.  Flowers were distributed to the passengers and blessings written on bits of paper. It didn’t seem to be a fund raising exercise but some people put small amounts of money in the flower baskets, so we did too. A fellow passenger read out the prayer we had been given. It was a blessing on our journey through life.

Savannakhet was rich in turn of the century French colonial architecture, but it was quiet. I mean it felt deserted. Savannakhet is a relatively large town, but the roads to it were virtually empty and the town itself seemed bereft of life. But when we did meet people they were very friendly and helpful. The man in the local tourist office was absolutely delightful. Life here is slow, much slower than Cambodia, and that brings a great deal of appeal. We stayed in a Peoples Democratic Republic (PDR) of Laos government rest house which had been converted into a hotel.  Just behind it on the river bank lay a Pagoda called Wat Sainyaphoum and here we met and chatted for a while to a Buddhist monk called ‘Lah’.  He was from Laos but was studying in a pagoda in Thailand and he gave us his address and we will try to call in when we are in Thailand.

The cool of the evening brings out the population to sit on plastic stools at low tables all along on the banks of the Mekong. Some stalls sold barbequed pork or chicken on sticks. Others specialised in fresh water fish, liberally rubbed with salt and then charcoal grilled. We settled on a bowl of stock on a charcoal burner on our table. Fresh meat, squid, shrimps and green vegetables were provided so that we could boil them in our bowl of stock to meet our own tastes.  As the orb of the sun turned orange and sank into the Mekong and the sky glowed pink then purple we raised a glass of Laos Beer with our fellow diners.      

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