Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!
What's Wat in Vientiane
Again Bros blog comes to the rescue!
No special plans today - our first full day in town.
After a nice breakfast in the Hotel we went out walking and sight-seeing.
This involves looking at a lot of Wats - they're all over the place.
We also walked over to Don Chan, this being a large sandy (sometimes) island adjacent to the main part of Vientiane, on a bend in the Mekong.
The land across the river is actually Thailand.
Thinking ahead a bit we also sought out and arranged for the next leg of this trip - to Siem Reap in Cambodia.
We will leave Vientiane on the 18th, fly to Pakse in southern Laos - where additional passengers will be picked up - and then on to Siem Reap, where we should be able to get Visas at the Airport.
A few random notes about Laos:
Vehicles drive on the right hand side of the road;
The currency is called the Kip;
Roughly, 6,500 Kip = AUD$1;
The roads are festooned with Scooters and the traffic generally moves fairly slowly. When it rains the riders travel with one hand on the throttle and the other holding up an umbrella;
Probably not an actual Law but the driver behind is responsible for avoiding accidents. This means - and we have seen this time and time again - that a scooter rider can pull out of a side street into a main road without so much as a glance at the cars coming along the road, who are expected to anticipate this and avoid hitting him or her;
Female scooter passengers often ride side-saddle behind the rider. In the wet she will not be holding onto anything except an umbrella;
There is only one strip at the Luang Prabang Airport and once your plane has landed it turns around and trundles back up the strip to the Terminal.
That's it for now.
Cheers.
"Wat" a Door!
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps99ff1cf4.jpg
To your rear march/run - as the case may be!
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps655ef467.jpg
Fancy window screen
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps3f2aa660.jpg
Breakfast or Prayer meeting?
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...psc59d36b4.jpg
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps8324c633.jpg
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps8ac2ac9e.jpg
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps4ccae0e4.jpg
That's some door!
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...psb93c60e7.jpg
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps17ecd4dd.jpg
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps2bf735c3.jpg
cont. over:
Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!
Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!
Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!
Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!
That was a nice start of the day for me. Thank you
Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!
Good to see they've got the blue skies and sunshine back. :)
Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!
Wow, just gorgeous! Those carvers have some amazing skills.
Best wishes for many sales to all,
Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!
Xieng Khuan (Buddhist Park) Vientiane
Today we visited the Buddha Park outside of Vientaine.
Here is a quote from the Lonely Planet:-
"About 25 klm southeast of Vientaine, eccentric Xieng Khuan thrills with other-worldly Buddhist and Hindu sculptures, and was designed & built in 1958 by Luang Pu, a yogi-priest-shaman who merged Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, mythology and iconography into a cryptic whole."
Sounded a bit odd so off we went.
Travel options were a return trip by Tuk Tuk for 200,000 Kip (about AUD $31) or take a local bus for 24,000 Kip return (about AUD $3.75).
Irrespective of the price difference, why would anyone bounce along in a Tuk Tuk for 50 klm when you could share a bus with the local people and gain a better insight into how things work in a foreign Country?
We hope you enjoy the photos.
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps98c91aca.jpg
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...psdaf1ea81.jpg
Strange structure Bro & Sil dubbed "The Pumpkin"
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps41018bd5.jpg
Mouth entry & narrow steps to top
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...pscd486f9f.jpg
Inside halfway up!
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...psb74de744.jpg
Made it
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps3325a3c6.jpg
A short rest
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps2a0f1efc.jpg
You can go further if you wish?
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps43d9272a.jpg
Bro passes on that
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...psf9a9b37b.jpg
Back on solid ground
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps4e89449b.jpg
cont. over:
Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!
Re: My eBid Cap Trip to Laos & Cambodia!