Off On Our Next Adventure

The Fast Train from China

We farewelled Luang Prabang the next morning, feeling a little sad that our time in this gorgeous town was over. Our minivan took us to the magnificent railway station, oddly located about 15km outside of the city. This section of the Laos-China Railway was completed only two years ago, so everything is still very shiny and new. That said, there was no toilet paper available in the public toilet, and the drinking water dispenser only gave out hot water at 100 degrees Celsius. Cold water needed to be purchased at the station shop or Amazon Cafe, along with tissues.

We had to present our tickets and passports to gain admission to the station before our bags (and us) were scanned, just like airport security. We had heard that people had had sharp things like scissors or aerosols taken off them before travel, so were expecting to lose our nail scissors and Anna’s scrapbook scissors, but fortunately we were allowed through with nothing being taken, although they did check Shaun’s shaving gel.

Once through security, we sat and waited for 45 minutes for our check-in. When the time arrived, everyone scrambled to form a line to the platform, and u-shaped bicycle locks were removed from the double doors to allow everyone through. Everyone surged through to their labeled carriage location, awaiting the C85 train from China. We joined the end of the line and found the platform area for carriage 06. In the adjacent line, a European backpacker was being given a telling off from a Thai woman about trying to push in. I actually felt a bit sorry for the guy!

The same lady was beaming at Anna a few minutes later, impressed with her photo taking ability (see photo above) so she wasn’t too scary! We often feel grateful that we are travelling through Southeast Asia with our children, as in every country we’ve visited, there seems to be a genuine love of children amongst the local people, both their own and other people’s. Everyone is so kind to the children, and I think we are well looked after, too, because of them.

When the train pulled into the station, people streamed onto the train in a steady fashion, although there were a lot of people getting on our carriage compared to the next one, so the conductor invited some of us at the end of the line to board through that carriage instead. When we got on, we realised that our seats were all the way down the other end of our carriage, so we had to wait while a huge group of incredibly loud, argumentative Chinese friends got themselves organised into their seats.

They had the passion one often associates with Italians the way they were addressing each other! Eventually, we made it down to our seats and settled in for the journey.

Anna received lots of attention from the surrounding Chinese group, who turned out to be lovely, doting types, and they were very impressed with her practising her writing and drawing in her diary.

The train journey flew by, as did the beautiful countryside, punctuated by a surprising number of dark tunnels through mountains. It must’ve taken years to build this stretch of railway line from Luang Prabang to Vientiane. As we pulled into the capital, we gathered up our bags, ready to alight.

The station there was identical to the one we got on at, and once we’d organised ourselves, and taken a few photographs, we exited the station ushered by officials who were eager to get rid of us and lock the doors behind us, with the familiar U-shaped bicycle locks. We were greeted by the usual melee of drivers, and negotiated a good deal with a van driver to take us to our hotel.

Our first impressions of Vientiane was of how large and stately some of the buildings were, with their neoclassical style. It looked like they could be in Paris, or London. The French certainly left quite a legacy in Laos in terms of architecture and also the ubiquitous baguettes and croissants on street corners and bakeries.

We were warmly greeted by the hotel staff, and shown to our very comfy family room. Now that we’ve been using booking.com for a while, we get massive discounts on rooms, as well as excellent last-minute deals, so what we normally couldn’t afford becomes affordable. This has been great for boosting morale at times, especially for the kids. You could see French influences in this building, too.

After a wee rest in the welcome aircon, we were ready to go out for dinner. It was considerably colder in Vientiane – about 25 degrees compared to Luang Prabang’s early thirties temperatures – and evening rainfall added to the coolness. We ate just down the road at a lovely place called Sailomyen Cafe and Hostel. It was decorated in a modern loft style, and the food was outstanding! We shared a whole lot of dishes between us and tried the different soups. It was a real novelty and a luxury having creamy soup for the first time in ages.

A Poorly Boy

That night, poor Leo had a very restless sleep and was running a temperature. Now, each time this has happened during our trip, I inwardly start to worry that it could be the beginnings of dengue fever and start surreptitiously googling the symptoms to double check, as well as nearby international medical centres. Each time, Shaun tells me to relax and that it’s most likely some kind of short-lived, tropical bug, but you know, mama’s always got to be ready for anything, right?

The next morning, we checked his temperature again, and it was 38.5. We decided to give him a day in bed with lots of fluids. There were no other symptoms. At one stage during the day, his temperature reached 39 degrees, but after some paracetamol, it lowered back down. After a day of rest, and one more restless night, he was back to feeling himself again.

Patuxay – The Victory Gate

One of the main landmarks in Vientiane is Patuxay, the Victory Gate, which is a memorial erected in the late 1950s as a tribute to all the freedom fighters who fought for independence from France. Although decorated with Laotian features, it resembles a mini Arc de Triomphe in the centre of Vientiane.

The ceiling inside is beautifully painted, although alas, like so many other public treasures of Laos, the Monument is looking a little tired and is clearly in need of a bit of TLC, along with the surrounding park and nearby fountain.

Vientiane at Night

That evening, we walked a kilometere or so to the night market, which was huge, but didn’t seem to have the same array of food as the Luang Prabang one, so we headed into the busier tourist area to get some dinner. At night, Vientiane seemed a little more exciting than its dour daytime persona. Many travel guides and backpackers sites advise against spending any length of time in Vientiane because aside from eating and drinking, there is very little to do.

We found a lovely Vietnamese place called Day to Night and had a healthy feast. The atmosphere created by colourful lights and lanterns was very festive, and we really enjoyed our evening here.

After dinner, we found a nearby roti stand and the kids and I bought hot, crispy roti drizzled with condensed milk…so delicious! Anna had chocolate sauce on hers.

Our walk home from here was a bit of an adventure, because we took a wrong turn and ended up navigating the backstreet way home, down some dark residential streets. Fortunately, with our phone torches, we could see just fine. Some of the locals looked a little puzzled by our presence as we passed by, but thankfully, trusty Google maps got us back to our hotel in just 10 minutes.

A Shopping Trip

The following morning, we had to go shopping for US dollars at the nearby banks, which was a fruitless endeavour. Trying to get hold of US dollars in Laos is pretty much impossible! We gave up and figured we had just enough for our next set of visas, so we’d be fine.

We visited Talat Sao Morning Market, which is like a shopping mall with local Laotian fashions, and bags on the first floor and tons of gold shops on the second floor. In Laos, because the kip is such an unstable currency (it is not accepted outside of Laos), people often convert their cash into gold so that it retains its value. Shaun went off to check one more bank while the kids and I wandered around all the gold shops, checking out the bling. I enquired about the price of a gorgeous diamond ring…only $3000USD! There were also a few antique shops selling all sorts of historical treasures, including a number of ivory objects.

We were there far longer than planned because Shaun decided to go to several nearby banks instead of just the one downstairs. The kids were rather fed up with gold shops by the time he got back, and firmly told him that it was the last time he was allowed to go wandering off by himself because they were sick of waiting around for him!

We then bought Leo some new headphones after the cheap ones we had bought in Thailand broke. Shaun took the kids back for a swim, while I went to explore Wat That Phoun, a nearby temple.

Wat That Phoun

This temple is beautiful, and quite a few monks reside here. Parts of the grounds appear to be under renovation currently, and there was a ceremony taking place inside the main temple, so I didn’t go inside.

Amazing Pizza

The kids enjoyed swimming in the pool at our hotel in the afternoons, in between torrential downpours, and we were glad we had booked a place with a pool in Vientiane, especially given the fact that there wasn’t a huge amount to do here.

After we were all dressed, we went out to find a nice place to eat for our last dinner in Vientiane. We found this little place called La Primavera, which had a wonderful maitre’D who warmly greeted us. They served both local and Italian food, and the kids were excited about ordering their first wood fired pizza in a while.

Insisting on the kids eating local food is hard work sometimes because they naturally gravitate towards the more familiar western foods, like chips, pizza, pasta, and burgers. However, you simply can’t exist on those foods as your sole diet for seven months, and the local food is way healthier, providing balanced nutrition of protein, carbs and veges, especially when we share the dishes, local style. We then have treat nights where everyone can order whatever they feel like, and this was one of those occasions.

Leo and Anna were thrilled to see their huge pizza arrive, and enjoyed every bite, while Shaun and I shared chicken parmagiana and the most enormous salad we’ve ever been served in a restaurant!

Buddha Park

After eating breakfast and packing our bags, we had a few hours spare before our flight to Pakse that afternoon, so we arranged for the hotel driver to take us to Buddha Park, which is about 25km outside of Vientiane.

Buddha Park was created in the late 1950s by Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat, who integrated Buddhist and Hindu ideology in the many statues that can be found there.

Although everything looks ancient, the statues are made out of reinforced concrete rather than stone. The park has been maintained in a reasonable state as a tourist attraction by the government, although there are some areas that could do with a little more attention.

We had a lot of fun looking around for an hour or so, and the moss growing on some of the statues added to their appeal.

The last thing we did was enter what looks like a giant pumpkin through the mouth of this demon figure above. It was a little nerve-wracking with hornets flying in and out, but once inside, it was lovely and cool.

You could follow a spiral pathway up the three levels, representative of hell, earth, and heaven, while looking at all the statues in the interior associated with each level.

The view from the top of this structure was amazing, and gave a good overview of the park.

After about an hour there, we made our way back to the city to collect our bags and catch our flight to Pakse.