Lao National Museum, Talat Sao market and yoga

Today is my third day in Vientiane and I took things slowly. I started in the late morning with a visit to the Lao National Museum, a fairly small place that offers a broad historical sweep from the dinosaurs to the development of modern Laos PDR. This included fossilised wood and dinosaur bones from pre-history, ancient bronze drums decorated with three-dimensional frogs, clothing and jewellery from some of Laos’ 49 ethnic groups and a Houda chair on which to ride elephants, the traditional mode of transport in the 17th century. In one room was an explanation of the creation of the first Laotian kingdom, Lane Xang, or the Kingdom of a Million Elephants. Fa Ngum was a Lao prince sent to exile in Angkor (the ancient Cambodian kingdom) in 1351, where he became the head of the Khmer army. He was sent to capture Luang Prabang in Northern Laos and declared himself Lord in 1353. Sending forces northwards, and southwards to Vientiane, he announced the formation of the Kingdom of Lane Xang. 

In a jump forward to the 19th century, the next room explained the origin of French colonialism from 1893, at a time that Vientiane was destroyed in the aftermath of Siamese rule. French interests in Laos were to exert power over neighbouring Siam, to exploit Laos’ natural resources, and to access the Mekong River, a valuable trade route. Although the French took interest in archaeological, religious and cultural documentation and restoration, rebuilding several of Vientiane’s razed temples, little improvement to education or infrastructure was realised and 90% of the population still relied on subsistence farming. Resentful of another foreign power dominating the country and the increasing involvement of the USA, nationalist sentiments grew. The museum displayed statues and busts of Lenin, Ho Chi Minh and Kham Seng Sivilay, the first Lao communist figurehead. There was photographic evidence of Laotian people fleeing the war between the USA and the communist Pathet Lao to refugee camps, as well as caves used for communist’s offices, schools and venues for public meetings. Here, English information signs started to wear thin, where they had been present at the start of the museum.

Enormous dog in the market

I was feeling tired at this point and went back to the hostel for a lie-down. I later thought this was probably because I hadn’t had a cup of strong Lao coffee in the morning, as I have done every other morning so far. After a few hours I headed out for a late lunch and a coffee at a nearby French bakery. I had hoped to visit the Buddha Park in the afternoon. This is a park 20km out of the city filled with unusual Buddhist and Hindu sculpture, created in 1958 by a shaman who merged Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. I realised I didn’t have time for this as I had started the day so slowly, and instead have put it on tomorrow morning’s itinerary. Instead I walked to the Talet Sao market, supposedly the largest in Vientiane. This must exclude the night-market by the river-front, which is enormous. In fact it was quite difficult to find the market, which was tucked around the corner of a large shopping mall, and did not seem to be very extensive. It was quite empty of customers which made it pleasant to walk around. Mostly there were sarongs, household goods and temple offerings for sale, although there were also tourist souvenirs. I was particularly struck by a table of soft hand-sewn slippers decorated with elephants, available in sizes from baby feet to adult feet. They were so adorable that I had to buy some, and I racked my brains for who I could give a pair to. In the end I decided to buy three of the cute children’s’ pairs to give to my boyfriend’s younger siblings, but being indecisive, I didn’t commit to buying until the third time I wandered back to the table for another look- not the best way to get a good price!

Elephant slippers- so cute!

Feeling happy with my purchase, I walked back to the street my hostel is on to have a mango shake and consider what to do with the rest of the day. I ended up at an evening yoga class at Vientiane Yoga Studio at the edge of the city, run by a sweet American woman called Eleanor and, not unsurprisingly, attended exclusively by female ex-patriots and myself. It was a pretty good work-out but with the cost of the class and two expensive tuk-tuk journeys, it was a costly evening’s activity. Tomorrow is my last day in Vientiane before flying to Hanoi to meet Jessica and begin our trip to the mountains. After four days in Vientiane I feel confident I’ll have seen most of the sights of this small, laid-back city. I’ve come to like it here- the local people are friendly and very polite, the city feels safe and there are a fair few interesting things to see and do.