Did I Enjoy Vientiane or What?

by Rich Neumann, High School Teacher
(Richland Center, WI USA)

About 10 years ago I had the distinct pleasure to visit Vientiane, Loas when I accompanied Boupha Vongphakdy on a visit to her brother who lives in that charming city.

My choice of hotel was the Duang Deuane Hotel, an excellent choice. While there, I became acquainted with Noi, the daughter of the owners of the hotel. She was a student of English, and we spent considerable time chatting in the English language. She was delighted to be able to "practice" her language skills with me every morning before I embarked on my daily tours of Vientiane and the surrounding countryside.

Noi was a very pleasant young lady, and one day I asked her if I could rent a bicycle so that I could explore Vientiane more easily rather than just by walking. The next morning, I had a bicycle at my disposal and I rode the bike in many directions in my exploration trips. I saw many aspects of Vientiane that the normal visitor probably never saw. It was an absolutely breathtaking visit.

I came upon the Vientiane Hospital, and since my wife worked at our hospital in Richland Center, WI, I stopped at the gate to ask if I could ride through the hospital grounds. Obtaining permission, I was soon riding the streets of the hospital complex. I came upon a nurse who asked me about my visitation, and she invited me to accompany her on a tour of the hospital. It was a very educational tour for which I thanked her very much for her generous courtesy.

Continuing on my way, I soon arrived at the festival grounds and the King's Monument. Very impressive! At every stop I made on my bike tour, I was greeted by very friendly Lao people. From those who could speak English, I learned a great deal of the many things I was seeing, especially of the many beautiful wats that I saw. Needless to say, my camera(s) were quite busy recording the many beautiful structures my eyes were seeing.

I am a teacher in my community, and at one impressive wat, school was just getting underway in the morning. I stopped at an open doorway of a classroom, and pointing at my camera, and pretending to "click", the teacher said, in perfect English, "Please come in and take all the photos you want." Who could decline an invitation like that? Awesome!

It was an elementary school, and the boys and girls were dressed in their school uniforms, which I thought were quite unique. The teacher asked, "Would you like for the students to sing a song for you?" Wow! How awesome is that! In addition to my still camera, I also had my videocamera, and I now have video of that visit in addition to my collection of still pictures. People at home were going to enjoy seeing and listening to these beautiful children. What could be better than that?

The end of the day was rapidly approaching, and since I really didn't know where I was, I saw many well-dressed people all walking in the same direction. I thought to myself, "Perhaps these people were walking to Vientiane for the evening activites in the city," so I decided to follow them. It was a good decision.

Sure enough, we soon arrived at the site of the Open Market that I had visited on an earlier tour, so I now knew where I was. Tired, hungy, but thoroughly pleased with my day, I was soon back at the hotel chatting with Noi about my experiences. She was very pleased when I told her about my awesome day riding the bike she had obtained for me.

On my last day in Vientiane, Bouapha, her brother, Soon, and two of his friends, arrived at the hotel in their motorcycle-taxi. They told me that they were going to take me to a very interesting place. It was!

East of town, past the Friendship Bridge, is perhaps one of Vientiane's most interesting sights, the Buddha Park. I knew I was in for a treat when we entered the park where I discovered that the name is quite fitting. Scattered around a large grassy yard on the banks of the Mekong River are dozens of concrete statues, many of which are are Buddha images. I thought, "The people at home aren't going to believe me when I tell them about this place."

Playing a prominent role in this "Park of Statues" and
the park's signature piece is a large but very flat reclining Buddha. Naturally, we had to have our photos taken at this impressive image. However, the stucture that really caught my eye was the most unusual of the structures that is best described as a "giant pumpkin with a dead tree sticking out its top". We entered this three-story structure through what might be called "the mouth" of a demon. There's an outer gallery with inner chambers on each floor. The inner chambers are full of sculptures but since there were very few lights illuminating the interior, it was a very scary place.

From the roof of this structure, we had a panoramic view of all the statues in the park. Outstanding!

My visit to Laos and Vientiane was at an end, but what a great way to end my visit to this very beautiful country, with its very gracious people and awesome sights. I'll never forget it.

Saying good-bye to Soon and his very pleasant friends, Bouapha and I were soon flying back to Wisconsin with some very inspiring stories and memories.

Thanks you Laos and Vientiane.