Laos - Vientiane

10 June - 13 June '08

An interesting fact about Laos is that there is a curfew in place - locals should be at home by 10.30pm and foreigners by midnight. We were told this was to control noise pollution and to retain the characteristic charm of the buddhist culture. Whilst this regulation was apparent in Luang Prabang, it didn't seem so noticeable here. Vientiane definitely had a capital city feel to it and although there were various monk-inhabited temples about, they didn't feel as genuine and unique as those in Luang Prabang.

On our first day we spent a lot of time walking, and talking to locals who were more than happy to explain their cultures. We learnt a lot from a young girl who ran a cafe called 'House of Fruit Shakes' - she created really tasty and nutritious fruit shakes and platters (mental note for parents.... we are eating fruit!). We were particularly interested in a daily tradition (alms service) whereby the orange-robed monks would wake up at the crack of dawn and walk around the streets to collect rations for the day from kneeling down locals. In return they would provide blessings.... we decided to partake. After a night of 10 pin bowling (in which Yatin crushed Preya in his typical effortless way ;-) , we woke up at 5am the following morning to provide food to the monks. We knelt alongside a couple of locals (you kneel as a show of respect), and as the 7 monks approached, they opened their holdalls so that we could make our offerings (we had prepared several bags of fruit the previous day). We were careful not to touch their containers since we are considered impure. After chanting some blessings, they continued barefoot along the street, leaving us with a feeling of self-fulfilment.

Another day, another early start. Our tuk-tuk driver picked us up at 4am and dropped us at the deserted airport where we would catch our flight to Siem Reap... next stop Cambodia.