– Vientiane.
Although I
reached late evening, my first impression of the city is that the pace is very
much like Goa. The vehicles are off the street by 8pm so all you can do is hit
the bar for a drink. I found a pub called Drop Zone close to the hostel I was
staying at. My choice for the evening was Laos’ national beer that’s creatively
named (don’t hold your breath) Beer Laos. I wonder how many hours of
brainstorming around the marketing table they took to come up with that one.
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Drop Zone had a
pool table and plenty of opportunities to strike up conversations with
strangers. Unfortunately my opportunity came in the form of a French traveller
called Julian. Julian refused to believe that I don’t speak French and talked
to me in his native tongue for one hour. I, in turn, decided to talk to Beer
Laos. When I finally managed to get away, I hit the pool table. It was 3,000
kip (Rs 20) a game, which the losers pay. At the end of the night, I managed to
lose 6,000 kip. I blame the beer. I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol, but it
really gives you a false sense of confidence. What it doesn’t give you is 20-20
vision to see the pool balls properly. There were 25 of them on the table at
one point. That was basically the highlight of my first night there.
I’m not too keen
on spending time in the capital and have allotted just one day to the city. I
wake up early in the morning and ask the hostel owner for suggestions on what
to do. He mentions a couple of monuments and tells me how to get there.
The first one
was Patuxai which I would describe as Laos’ Gateway of India. Perhaps, it would
be simpler if I just said Gateway of Laos. It really towers over Th Lang Xang
district and was constructed using the cement that the USA had donated to build
an airport. As an inside joke, the locals call it the vertical runway!
Embellishing the structure are mythological creatures and deities. Apparently,
you can climb to the top to get a view of the city, but I wasn’t really
interested.
After a bit, I
made my way to Pha That Lunag – a large gold-covered Buddhist Stupa in the
city. Apparently, in the 3rd century BC , they took their bling very seriously.
While you can’t actually go into the stupa, walking around and taking in the
mammoth structure is pleasant enough. With nothing really exciting to do, I
make my way back to Drop Zone to improve my French. Tomorrow, I head to Vang
Vieng, where there are river adventures to be experienced.
