Bring Back the Rain!

We arrived at the Southern Vientiane Bus Station at 6:30 am this morning. After our night aboard the “Jester’s Bus,” it felt good to be back in our home town. We were picked up and dropped off (at home) by Lamnuegn’s sister, finally arriving back at our residence at 7 am. The first two matters of business taken care of in about an hour and a half (unpacking and showering), Zenia and I headed out to put our sightseeing day plan of action into motion. The lost weekend of fever and pain (aka last weekend) had put us behind in our explorations of the sights of Vientiane and before leaving on our trip last week, we decided to come home on Sunday and make up for lost time by getting in as much sightseeing as possible.

We headed to our favorite smoothie bar for some fruity goodness to start our day off right, and after slurping the smoothies down, we headed over to a Scandinavian Bakery we had been told by everyone (everyone we knew who had visited Vientiane and Lonely Planet) was a must see/eat. While the food was good, I’m not really sure what all the fuss was about. It was good, but not that much better than other cafes/bakeries in this city and certainly not worth all the adulation it has received. In any event, the food was good and it started the day off right. After our delightful breakfast, we met Saem at Monument Books (just around the corner) and then set off on our bikes for Patu Xay. During traditional hours (luckily on weekends too) tourists are permitted to climb the stairs leading to the top of Patu Xay where the sightseer can get a view of the entire city of Vientiane on a clear day.

Today was just such a clear day, clear and hot…no…HOT. Unfortunately, Vientiane is going through something of a drought, currently eight days with no rain. The lack of rain has caused the temperatures to soar to unbelievable highs and it is now so hot that as soon as you leave the comfort of air conditioning a layer of sweat coats your entire body. The city is muggy and oppressive, feeling as if a storm is just around the corner while no clouds are in the sky. As we cycled down the main road in Vientiane, the sun beat down on our heads, seeming to mock our efforts to tour the city, dropping our energy levels to nil and making any exposed skin burn. Saem and Zenia struggled in the heat, growing more tired and heat-hate-filled with every move we made. I can only surmise that my fever immunized me from some of the worst effects of the heat, for though I felt hot and sweaty and uncomfortable, it was not as unbearable to me as it was to them. Perhaps something good came of that wretched fever? Something to consider…perhaps Vientiane likes me after all.

We made it to Patu Xay and even climbed the stairs to the top where we were able to gaze out over the city. It looked very similar to any other rooftop view of a city: a bunch of buildings you could just make out and some roads. However, it was a pretty sight, only slightly marred by the lack of shade. We stayed for only a little while and then made our way back down the five staircases and across the street to our parked bikes.

The second stop on our list was Pha That Luang, a golden stupa located about five minutes from the center of town. The golden spire is a very important religious epicenter for Lao Buddhism and a gorgeous place to visit. Today, we biked to the monument, a distance equal to that of our house to Patu Xay. Unfortunately for us, this portion of our journey was slightly uphill. We rode again under the blazing sun, sweating so profusely it dripped down our faces. By the time we reached the monument, we were so hot it was unbelievable. While I’m sure That Luang would have been impressive under normal circumstances (a giant golden spire against a brilliant blue sky is quite a sight to see), in our heat filled delirium, we could not enjoy it. The most we could bring ourselves to do was walk under the eaves of the wall surrounding the spire where there was shade, admiring from a distance and praying we would survive.

We decided quickly that we had seen enough and left the spire on our bikes to head home. To give you a further example of just how hot it has been here…when we arrived home, I immediately went into our room, switched on the air conditioning, and laid down on my bed to await survival or death. As I am writing this blog, it is clear I survived, but I feel sure it was a near miss. I had fully cooled down and was no longer sweaty when Zenia called me out of our room (the epicenter of all that is wonderful and air conditioned) to help with the laundry. As soon as I stepped out of our room I was once again covered in a layer of sweat. Every inch of my skin glistened with moisture, impossible to dry off in the stunning humidity.

In self defense, Zenia and I stayed in for most of the afternoon, until Lamnuegn came by at 3 pm to take us shopping for silk to make me a traditional Lao skirt. Unfortunately, she came on her motorbike rather than in her car and Zenia and I were forced back onto our bikes to endure another ride downtown in the heat. If the outside was a sauna, it was nothing compared to the inside of the market. We went to the daily market, located across the street from the Morning Market in downtown Vientiane. Imagine a huge warehouse, many blocks long, filled with stalls of cloth, clothes, shoes, purses, etc. Everything you could imagine. Each stall is about a seven foot square, with merchandise (enough for a store) hanging from every available surface in the small space. To find the good silk, you must travel deep into the belly of the beast, heading under fluorescent lights into the deepest recesses of the market, where air is scarce and the heat nearly unbearable. Even for the locals it is almost too much and as we walked, we saw most stall owners lying down on the floors behind their front tables, unmoving, with a fan blowing air directly on their heads.

It took an hour of shopping in this sauna to find the proper silk. The process of buying silk is intense. You must know where you want the silk to be from, what kind of silk you want, what pattern on the silk, etc. We went through each step, finally selecting “ma mon” silk, which is a Lao silk (a good choice as the Lao are famous for their silks) that looks like cotton, breaths better than “ma laan” silk, and is more traditionally worn in the workplace or in everyday situations. I had a good time learning how to choose my silks and seeing the variety available. Sometime this week I will take the silk to a tailor and have it made up into a skirt!

We went across the road to the morning market to check out the scarves, but sellers close early on Sundays and we missed out on our opportunity to buy scarves today (we’ll just have to come back another time!). The rest of the evening was all about relaxing: using the internet at Joma Café, going out to eat, and a leisurely bike ride back to our house. Lack of sleep from last night is now catching up to me and I am ready to rest. Before I go, however, I would like to conclude with: Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I love you! And on that good note, goodnight.