“The Lao kingdom of Lan Xang was established in 1354 by Fa Ngum, a Lao prince. Lan Xang, which literally means "million elephants," was an allusion to his formidable war machine. Fa Ngum's descendants remained on the throne at Muang Sua, renamed Loung Phrabang, for almost 600 years, maintaining the independence of Lan Xang to the end of the 17th century. At the same time, these rulers fought off invasions from Vietnam (1478-79), Siam (1536), and Burma (1571 - 1621). In 1694, however, Lan Xang fell prey to a series of rival pretenders to its throne, and, as a result of the ensuing struggles, formally ended and split into three kingdoms -- Luang Phrabang, Vientiane, and Champassack, 1707.
In 1763 came the greatest Burmese invasion yet seen. All the Lao lands were conquered, and in 1767 Ayutthaya fell. Taksin, a general of Chinese origin, organised resistance, routed the Burmese and founded a new capital at Bangkok. Taksin attacked the Burmese in the north in 1774 and captured Chiang Mai in 1776, permanently uniting Siam and Lān Nā (a kingdom based in Chiang Mai). Taksin's leading general, Chaophraya Chakri led another Siamese army north in 1778. This expedition captured Viang Chan (former and Lao name for Vientiane), and established Siamese domination over Laos. The Siamese did not come to Laos as liberators. Viang Chan was thoroughly looted, and its most sacred treasure, the Emerald Buddha, was taken to Bangkok, where it remains to this day…” (cited and adapted from Wikipedia)
… fast forward to 229 years in the future, after further wars, colonial domination, a world war and a secret war, I am standing in front of Ho Phra Kaew, the temple which formerly held the Emerald Buddha. There is nothing much to do for my last day in Vientiane, so I decided to visit some historical sites. Now, this temple only housed a museum filled with many Buddha’s image. A brief talk with the museum attendant revealed that no monks stay here as the temple was build on the grounds of the King’s Palace. The Emerald Buddha was housed on a platform right in the middle of the temple. Today, in its place is a replica of the platform as the original one was spirited away to Bangkok with the Emerald Buddha.
There are more roadworks in front of this temple and without the sight of the tractors, one would assume that the road is supposed to be like that, dusty and untarred. With contrast to this, the Presidential Palace which was situated right beside this very road was gleaming white in it’s splendour of French architecture and sporting the largest Laos flag I ever seen.
A brief walk away is Wat Sisaket, the remaining temple in Vientiane during the Siam sacking of 1827. The fact that it was built in the Siamese style of Buddhist architecture rather than in the Lao style kept it safe from being destroyed. This temple featured a cloistered wall with a couple of thousands mini Buddha images housed in the edifices. With nothing else to do, I walked back to the hotel as it was less than a kilometre away.
Earlier, after breakfast at the hotel, I took the hotel shuttle to the water fountain. After changing 20USD for Kipp, I walked to the morning market and bought some Lao souvenirs there. Besides selling souvenirs for tourist, the market virtually sells everything ranging from clothing and electrical appliances. There is even a section dedicated to jewellery, with several menacing looking army official having a drink while on the lookout for robbers. I passed by the Lao National Musuem but was dissapointed as it was closed.
Once back in the hotel, I tried to catch a nap as I wouldn’t possibly be able to sleep during the long ride to Hanoi tonight. The hotel attendant was kind enough to extend my hotel stay until 5pm without any extra charges. Feeling reluctance to leave the comfort of my room, I made my way down to the lobby and had a quick dinner. Doubting whether the ticket woman had cheated me, a man approaches the bell-boy to look for me. Soon, in the jeep with 2 Dutch boys and a Japanese, I was brought to Kew Lod Donnoun, the Southern Bus Terminal and the place where I had wondered and researched about ever since before I came to Vientiane. I sort of expected what the bus would look like when the jeep driver acquainted me with it. Earlier, when I asked Miss Vila to contact the ticket woman, she disclosed to Miss Vila that the bus for today would not be a good quality one as the good one was only available on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
After all the hassle of trying to find the right agency selling the genuine VIP bus ticket, it seemed that fate has decided for me to sit on this bus if I were to continue on my journey to Hanoi. After reading all the travel blogs and taking note of the Lonely Planet warning on this nightmare bus, I was already prepared for this. At least to my heart's content, the bus was not loaded to the brim with goods bought by the locals. At least one travel agency told the truth that the locals only did their shoppings on Tuesdays and Thursdays only.
To my delight, I was not the only foreigner on this bus. In fact, half of the bus is filled with travellers from England, Sweden, France, Greece, Ireland and Japan. This bus should be called the Very International Passengers (VIP) instead. In a nutshell, the first half of the journey consists of a dinner stop in the middle of nowhere; several brief stops to look for a gas station which still opens; a non-stop event where a local shitted in a plastic bag and forcing two foreigners to give up their seat to sleep on the aisle; a stop for the same local to piss outside the bus; a stop for the driver's wife to pray for safe passage amongst the mountain road; several careful crossing over creaking metal bridges; a stop due to a truck breaking down in the middle of road and finally a longer breakfast stop at 3am on the border town of Lak Sao to wait for the checkpoint to open.
Sigh... as predicted, I wasn't able to sleep except for a few short naps. This is definitely the most epicful journey I ever had in my life. Goodbye Vientiane...
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