But starting off I did some stuff around home, took some more stuff to the dressmaker and then had my apple pie at Banneton. The layers of flaky pastry just fell apart as I took my first bite; the spiced apple oozed out the sides as the flakes fell to my plate. Each mouthful saw more and more cascading down until at the end I was able to scoop them up as a bonus. What a way to start the day (actually it was 12 noon by the time I had breakfast).
First off a walk through Chou Anouvong Park which runs alongside the mainroad on the side of the Mekong. The park runs for quite some distance between the town and the river side road and has some lovely gardens, a great area full of exercise equipment, monks sitting around and in general a lovely piece of serene green in the middle of a dusty busy city.
The massive statue of Chou Anouvong, who led the Laotian Rebellion (1826 – 1829) as the last monarch of the Lao Kingdom of Vientiane, dominates the park as he points towards the Mekong which shares its banks with Lao and Thailand on the other side. Quite surreal coming from an island nation to be able to see another country over the road.
Further along I visit Vat Sisaket. Not one that I would rave about after having seen so many remarkable Wats and Vats over the last month, but I can say I have been.
Next to the Vat is the museum complex which is made up of a crumbling temple and monastery and was built in 1818 by King Anu. The temple survived the destruction of the city by the Siamese army in 1828. The monastery stands intact in its original form, and is one of the most frequented in the city. Inside the main compound the courtyard walls have hundreds of little niches and large shelves displaying 6,840 Buddha statues. Although it's in need of more work, the impressive temple hall underwent some restoration in 1938. The paintings that once covered its interior walls have largely been destroyed by the ravages of time, but the intricately carved wooden ceiling and doors are still intact. The detail on the walls and ceiling were quite superb. Photos were not allowed but with the help of a purchased post card I got this one.
Lunch time and I wander back to Maphet for another of those glorious banana flower salads, intending to take a photo before I started but greed got the better of me so this is the half eaten version and does no justice to the dish. Rolling my sticky rice into balls and with each ball picking up a bit of the salad before raising them to my mouth made it taste even better. Cutlery could not have done this justice. Nearly dribbling I savour a divine mix of flavours and textures, sweet, salty, spicy and sour, all topped off with a red mulberrry tea. Oh so yum.
Killing time before I could get into the fashion parade I took myself off to the Lao National Museum. A rather uninspriign collection of bits and pieces (some interesting info about archaeological sites) and many photos, the majority briefly labelled to idetify the item or participants but with no clues as to the occasion or background. Most labels were mis-spelled or made no sense. Again no photos allowed but quite honestly there wasnt an awful lot to photograph.
Time for relaxation saw me, yet again, at Khop Chai Deu for a coke and some riverweed which I had not tried before and was surprised to get dark green sheets of stuff scattered with sesame seeds. For some reason I thought it would be like seaweed or watercress. It was, however, exceptionally yummy and great for a snack.
Times up and I go for a wander only to get a message a few minutes later from Bianca to say they were waiting for me at Khop Chai Deu and so I returned to a beer Lao and spring rolls.
I had read about a fashion parade being held as part of French Week and was eager to go see, so Michael and Bianca came too. It was held in the grand Cultural Centre which is not nearly so grand inside as it is outside.
It took quite some time for the fashion parade to start and I was expecting French fashion so was quite surprised when the first lot of models showed clothing with a distinctive over the top but asian twist. The next tranche of models wore more traditionally Lao dress with a modern twist and although the styles were not my cup of tea the workmanship and tailoring of the garments was like nothing I have seen of late in NZ, where most our clothes resemble sacks with little true talent required in the tailoring and fitting of the garments. It was brilliant and shown off superbly by the slender and gorgeous models.
A tranche of mens clothes, based on traditional Lao dress, again showed the talents of the designers and dressmakers. Never let it be said that there are no decent seamstresses her. The tailoring was superb.
Dinner time and we wandered off to Sticky Fingers where my meal came in the form of a big pile of smooth, creamy potato mash, smotherered in onion gravy and sitting atop it all a rather large cumberland sausage. Comfort food at its finest and appropriate on a day where the mercury didn't quite get to the level on the thermometer that it had been and where I felt a chill in my bones as we sat outside to eat. Winter woolies may be coming out sooner than I thought.
While wandering around today I did find a few interesting bits that may be of use to the next person visiting Vientiane. I will do a final blog of Vientiane before I leave and include the bits and peices I have picked up but in the meantime:
The ANZ ATM next to Khop Chai Deu will give out up to 2,000,000 kip with a transaction fee of 40,000. Many other machines limit withdrawals to 1,000,000 with a fee of 20,000.
Over the road from Khop Chai Deu is a little kiosk which sells international newspapers including the local English paper.
There are lots of shops selling textiles around town. Some say they are antiques. They probably arent. Prices of fabrics vary considerably and so does the quality. Some are hand loomed, some mass produced. Some cotton, some silk and others synthtic. So a low price doesnt necessarily mean a good deal. My favourite is Mixay over the road crom Pimenton. Lovely environment, good qualit stock at excellent prices and lovely staff. Some of their stuff is imported but nevertheless still a good deal. They do weaving classes and tailoring on the premises.
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