Arrival Laos/Vientiane / Day 59-62

Hello dear ones, a lot has happened in the last few days. The probably most beautiful and best experience was probably when I arrived at the airport in Vientiane on Tuesday, completely unsuspecting, and suddenly my husband and parents were standing in front of me. I really didn't know anything and was mega surprised but also overjoyed that they came! Especially my husband, whom I had missed a lot in the last two months, so I burst into tears when I saw them all. After I got over this shock, we all went to the Crowne Plaza together, where my husband and parents had already checked in since yesterday.

In the following days, we enjoyed ourselves especially in the spa and at the pool.

In between, a bit of sightseeing, like on Thursday when we went to the Buddha Park. It's a small park, just outside the city, where there are simply a lot of stone Buddha statues. The biggest one is probably the reclining Buddha. There is also a large stone pumpkin that you can climb into. Inside, there are three floors symbolizing hell, earth, and heaven. At the top, you can climb onto the roof and have a nice overview of the park. But you don't need more than two hours here, we were already done after 1.5 hours, of which we sat in the shade for half an hour because it was too hot to walk around.

In the evening, we went to the night market. This is a long street near the Mekong River where one stall follows the other. There is mainly clothing and phone cases to buy. After walking a third of the market, you have seen everything because the products repeat themselves. I bought 3 pants, a dress, and a watch and didn't spend more than 10 EUR. Of course, it's not super quality, but it's definitely enough for working on the next projects.

Yesterday we got a private city guide for the morning who showed us the most important sights of the city. Since Vientiane is not big, half a day was absolutely enough. First, we went to Wat Ho Phra Keo. The temple of the royal family housed the Emerald Buddha for 200 years. Today it is a small museum and a beautiful temple to see.

Afterwards, we visited Wat Si Saket. This is the oldest surviving temple in the city, as it was spared in the war with the Siamese because the Siamese also used the temple for prayers. It is also known for its 6,800 Buddha statues in the surrounding wall. These are supposed to symbolize that Buddha multiplied himself many times to become stronger against demons.

Our third stop was the Pha That Luang, also known as the Great Stupa. A stupa is like a tomb, where the ashes of a deceased person are kept. This stupa was built to cover the originally smaller stupa, which contains a piece of Buddha's breastbone. It is the most important monument in Laos and is also used for national Buddhist ceremonies.

The last stop was the Patuxai, also known as the Arc de Triomphe, and actually looks very similar to the Paris Arc de Triomphe. Inside, you can climb it and after passing 4 retail spaces with souvenirs, you have a great view of the city.

What we also learned during the city tour was that there is a different Buddha statue for each day of the week. So depending on which day of the week you were born, you have a certain statue that symbolizes that day. My statue was the Buddha showing the right palm of the hand. This is supposed to symbolize the end of wars and the beginning of peace. Fits me well, I think.

All in all, it was a really nice city tour and our tour guide was super nice and spoke beautiful understandable English.

We will spend today again chilling by the pool before I will be picked up from here tomorrow morning and taken to my next project. In the evening, the plane will fly back for my husband and parents and for the next 7 weeks, I will unfortunately be on my own again. I am really looking forward to my next experiences.

I will get back to you from the new project.

Until then

Your Alex