Oct 12

Oct 12 Vientiane

Looking back on the trip I took to Vientiane, Laos, I see so much of who I am now simmering under the surface of someone who was still getting to know herself. There are many pictures of flowers, of sunsets, and of a girl who is so happy to be experiencing somewhere new. This trip was almost four years ago. So much has happened since then. And yet, looking at the pictures, I still remember walking those streets, too. I remember how I felt. At least, I think I do.

These are some photos of my time there, some memories. I was enchanted by Vientiane. The city lies along the Mekong, and you become one with the pace of the city, just as the sky melts into the river to disappear into the horizon. I enjoyed wandering the streets, stopping into temples as I passed them, embracing the quiet serenity.

*View over Vientiane from the Patuxai monument*

This city is poetic in its beauty, and in its endurance. Laos and her people have a heavy history.

“At the end of the war, more than two millions tons of bombs had been dropped on Laos, making it the most heavily bombed country in the world, per capita, a staggering title that it still holds to this day,” (source: COPE).

I learned about the secret war in Laos that took place from 1964 to 1973, and how it continues to impact the daily life of those who live there, decades on, at the COPE Visitor’s Center. This charity serves survivors of incidents of unexploded ordinance by providing them with prosthetics and rehabilitation services, while educating the public about a war many have never heard of.

In Vientiane I saw subtly, how a river made two cultures, a river that looks like you could walk across it. I almost missed the Mekong; only out of curiosity did I follow people across the dunes and high grass to reach the water. The sun was setting and the moon was waiting. Purple and pink, peaceful was the sky.

*The Mekong lies just beyond the grass…*

I wandered through wats, temples, whose names I can no longer place on a map. I’ve spent days trying to match up my pictures with those I’ve found online to no avail. I’ve made peace with the fact that I was there, that I sat in their gardens and smelled their flowers. Their names wouldn’t change the scent of hibiscus to a rose.

This is not a guide for Vientiane, because I think I went there to get a little lost. I let serendipity take the lead, and I found what I was given. I would like to return one day: to walk where I have walked before, with all that I have learned since then.