Monday, November 15, 2010

Vientiene, November 14, 2010

                                                                    Vientiane, Laos

Sitting at a sidewalk cafe, Croissant d'or, on Rue nokeoummane s a prelude for our day of exploring Vientiene on bicycle. The days are in the 80's, dry and perfect. Traffic is most mild with loads of motorcycles, Tuk tuks, motorized or leg propelled carts, or SUV's - not much in between.
I have seen just a few traffic lights so far here. I'm sure there are more, but many intersections are up to the drivers. People just seem to go with the flow.

Our guesthouse is wedged between two large wards or monasteries. Every day we walk through one of them to visit neighboring streets. The grounds are very simple, not manicured but with 3 or 4 large mature trees. Once in awhile we see some of the monks about. The murals inside look beautiful as we pass by. We'll see. Off for now.

Bicycle tour included a ride along the Mekong River road, and then along the flower lined boulevard to the Patuxai monument. En route we passed the huge Talat Sao market complex. The monument, built in 1960 with road building funds(it's called a vertical road project), looks like the Arc de Triumphant from a distance. As you get closer, stone sculpture work looks very similar to the work on Ankor Wat.

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