When youve heard it, you must see it; only after youve seen it make a judgement with your heart ~ Lao Proverb
We woke late and headed down to the Family Boutique Hotels large dining area for a late breakfast. It was the last few days of our holiday, and we were focused on relaxing in Vientiane. As was customary on this trip, I enjoyed fresh baguettes and omelettes – my favourite way to start each day in Laos. I also helped myself to cornflakes, toast and jam, excellent coffee, terrible tea and the strange orange cordial that features at every breakfast buffet in the country.
After our leisurely breakfast, we shared a jumbo (motorbike with a covered trailer containing facing bench seating) with a couple of to Pha That Luang in the late morning. Wed planned to walk the four kilometre journey the following day, but the option of getting there within minutes was too appealing to pass up. Besides, the sun had started to warm Vientiane after a cold wind had blown through the city the previous night, and we decided it would be far too hot to walk in the middle of the day.
is considered one of the most important national monuments in Laos, and one of the main Buddhist monuments in Vientiane. Its big and its gold, so it stands out from the crowd. Literally! We wandered the peaceful grounds and marvelled at the monuments lack of symmetry – the lower level corners did not appear to align with the upper level corners! A professional wedding shoot was underway in the grounds, so we were lucky enough to capture our second wedding in Laos (wed witnessed one the previous day at Wat Si Saket).
After about 30 minutes it was time to go. Our jumbo driver had waited for us in the car park, so we clambered in and headed back to the hotel. After quickly freshening up, we headed out on our planned walking tour of Vientianes wats. We visited Wat Mixai, Wat Haysoke, Wat Ong Teu and Wat In Paeng. The four temples are all located within a short distance of each other, and apart from Wat In Paeng, they were all open. Im not a fan of garish and untidy temples that are with icons (in this case of the Buddha), so my favourite temple was the
Id been looking forward to visiting Indochina Handicrafts, a small curiosity shop beside Wat Haysoke that is known to stock antique Russian wristwatches (among many other and curios). Vientiane was inhabited by spies and correspondents in the 1970s, so there was a remote chance that one of the old watches had belonged to a Russian agent. And for some inexplicable reason, this was very appealing to me. Unfortunately, there were no Russian watches available when we visited. I noticed a couple of Swiss and Japanese watches, but they didnt pique my interest in the same way.
It was when we left Indochina Handicrafts, and we were seriously hungry and thirsty. To heighten our thirst, the sun was now searing over the city. We decided to lunch at Makphet Restaurant, because (a) it was close to our current location, and (b) it was in our Lonely Planet guide. Unfortunately we couldnt find the place, and it was not for want of trying. I eventually relented and asked someone in the street, and they told me the restaurant had relocated to another part of the city. From the direction they pointed, it
To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. We decided on another restaurant from our Lonely Planet guide, but that too was no longer operating. We were tired and hot, so we opted to return to the place wed lunched the previous day – Benoni Restaurant. It was close to our hotel, and we knew the food was good. I ordered the crispy egg noodles with chicken, while Ren went for the pad thai with chicken. Both meals were fantastic! I cooled down with a Beerlao, while Ren rehydrated with a watermelon shake.
Feeling refreshed and rested, we headed back to the hotel, picking up a Beerlao on the way from the friendly just around the corner.
