Since the day before yesterday we are in Vientiane, the capital city with around 700,000 inhabitants. It is located on the Mekong River, with Thailand on the other side, but there is no bridge in the city. The colonial era is still very visible in the buildings here, and for us tourists, the many bars and cafes where you can enjoy dishes from all over the world are pleasant.
Otherwise, we visit the sights listed in the travel guide, magnificent buildings, stupas, temples. The 'modern' temples, which are up to 200 years old, have a somewhat cheesy colorfulness and rather childish paintings from our point of view. But that's how it is here and the people eagerly visit them.The Wat Si Saket is very beautiful and not so colorful, it houses countless identical Buddha figures in a kind of cloister, without much decoration and therefore all the more impressive. We also liked the Pha That Luang, which is described as the most important national monument. A 45-meter-high golden stupa, restored less than 2 years ago and therefore shining flawlessly. Several temples surround the large stupa and there is also a large reclining Buddha. We were cycling, you can rent bicycles for 1 euro per day and get around very well in the traffic. Otherwise, we spend the hot midday hours, when the thermometer climbs to 36 degrees, in the air-conditioned hotel room, reading and looking forward to the sundowner, which unfortunately always consists of Beerlao (Michael) and Radler (Anke), because cocktails here are too expensive for our taste at 5 euro 😀After sunset, the three-lane road along the Mekong River is closed to cars and people stroll or jog there, eat at the night market, have picnics on the lawn, all very relaxed.
