This morning we woke up and boarded the bus. It was nice to know that we could safely depart and head to the capital city of Vientiene. The first thing we noticed, is that the term city is used very lightly here. While by far being the most populated area of Laos that we have seen, it is a small townish city at best.
When we got into the city we visited COPE, which is an organization that helps supply artificial limbs to people who have lost them in accidents from unexploded ordinances dropped by the US during the Vietnam war. We learned about the Secret War the US conducted in Laos, where American bombers dropped millions of tons of bombs all over the country in an attempt to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh trail, and dissuade Laos from entering the war. Even today, there are countless unexploded ordinances that children and people have accidents with despite the countries best efforts to find and neutralize them.
After the museum, we headed to the Golden Temple called That Luang Stupper. We walked around, it was quite beautiful, in addition to being the most important temple in the country. From there we headed to the Arc de Triumph called Patuxay Park. We climbed to the top for a view of the city.
As the group headed back to the hotel, Jourdan and I went to explore the city. Like other places in SE Asia, it is amazing how you can be in a run down neighborhood, and then out of nowhere run into an gorgeous temple. We strolled through some temples, and walked along the Mekong for a bit, with a beautiful view of Thailand.
The whole group went for dinner at Makphet. The food was delicious, and it is run by an organization that supports children in the city, and helps get them off the street.
We spent the night at a rooftop bar drinking, while overlooking the night markets, the Mekong, and Thailand.
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| The great electrical wiring |
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