Vientiane

The Abbot at the temple in Vang Vieng who was just 26 years old, and younger than Leang recommended a temple to him in Vientiane that he thought would be a good fit for him to stay at.



The Abbot gave permission, and Leang settled in.

Wat Ong Teu is the largest temple in Vientiane and is a Buddhist College for novices and some monks to study at. College to them is not what College is to western people. College in Laos is high school.

In Luang Prabang the age bracket of novices tends to be primary school ages. This is because LP is has the largest and best Buddhist primary schools in Laos so families from all over the country send their sons there to learn and become novices. This has multiple benefits in Asia. The young boys get a free education and are supported by the community. Community support through a temple is important because it relieves the pressure on the family to feed another mouth. So the boys go live in a temple, gain an education, learn manners and are taught to become good men in society. Buddhists also believe that making merit improves their Karma, thus giving alms, or monetary donations to a temple is good.
In Vientiane the novices go to study high school since this is where the largest Buddhist secondary schools are located. This city has loads of Wats, just like Luang Prabang does. This is the general trend. There are alternatives, like for example, Than in LP was studying French in college there.
Not all monks stay monks. Often the case in Laos is that after the novice finishes college (HS) he disrobes and will return home to work and help his family. Many monks when they disrobe also become guides for tourists. This is because while being a monk they have the opportunity to learn English, and can make better money as a guide to foreigners. By making a higher wage, they are then able to send money home to their parents in the rural villages. So be nice to your tour guides, he may have been a monk previously.
There was an old Thai monk staying there for a few days as well. Very quiet, but approached Leang with questions about the architecture and writings on the walls of the Wat.

When Leang and I were in Pak Beng walking with the Lao the 3Km each way to the bus station they were talking and Leang asked questions about reading Lao language. He learned there are only a few slight differences, as well as with speaking. Within 3 minutes Leang was able to speak and read the language since it is so similar to Thai.


Leang spoke with the old monk and explained the writings to him.


This temple has fortune sticks in a can that you shake quickly until one falls out. That stick has a number on it, you then read the paper with the same number. The writing was in Laos, so Leang translated my fortune to me.



Basically it said that I will not be a wealthy woman but that I am clever and will find a way to make a living and be happy with that lifestyle. I will fall in love with a man that already is involved with another woman, and to be cautious of this situation and to protect myself. It said that I am in tune with natural things, and that my happiness lies in nature. It said I need to make more good merit so as to improve my Karma and protect myself from harm.



















My guest house was across the street diagonally from Wat Ong Teu, and I could sit in my window and look over at the temple's gardens.



This is the street my guesthouse was on. There was a shopping market down where that red sign on the building on the left it. I was so excited because they had underwear that actually fit a western person! I swear....Asians are so tiny....it's impossible to buy things that fit.


For breakfast I would often eat (surprise, surprise) noodle soup down the street from my guesthouse.

Leang and I spent quite a bit of time talking in the garden of the temple. It was nice and peaceful there.

Leang's blue bag that he carries I have envied since Chiang Mai. All monks have bags in this style but the writing on them is different. The bags are created during ceremonies and special events like when a temple is built or reconstructed, or an awards ceremony. The Abbot in charge then can give the bag as a gift to a monk.
Leang got his bag from a ceremony of an important monk. He is explaining the meaning of the writings to a tourist that was visiting this temple.

Blue is okay, but I really wanted one of these bags in a more girly color. Kinda impossible considering monks are not very girly hahaha.

This is a photo of a temple that I took while walking along the streets of Vientiane.
There was a really good coffee shop not far from my guest house that I loved to visit.


This is me taking a photo of my ring that I got in Ayutthaya earlier this year.




It's a Buddhist ring, and Leang explained to me that the symbols on it are Cambodian; it's ancient Khmer language that the Buddhist culture has adapted.

The evening food market where I would go to eat dinner.






In this photo I am eating sticky rice with BBQ fish. Arroy mak mak!

A monk from the Seattle in the states, arrived and would be staying at Wat Ong Teu for one day. Leang told him we planned on sight-seeing that day and invited him to come with us. So the 3 of us went out to see the sights and it was a more proper way for Leang and I to be able to travel around in public together.

We learned that this monk currently lives in Seattle, but had studied Buddhism in Cambodia and was ordained when he lived there for a year. He visits his old temple in Cambodia every year, and was only touring Laos for a few days before he would return to Cambodia for the Buddhist New Year festival which is April 12-14th.

First we went to Wat Sisaket which is the oldest original temple in Vientiane, built by King Anou in 1818.

It houses more than 2,000 small Buddha statues, brought here by devotees and are stored in small little spaces in the walls through out the temple.

We went to Wat Pha Kaew which is across the street from wat Sisaket.




It was built in 16th century to house the famous Emerald Buddha, kept here until 1788, when it was taken by the Thais. The Emerald Buddha is now on display in the Royal Temple in Bangkok (see my Bangkok entry for the photos of it).

The original temple was destroyed in 1828 and rebuilt in 1936-42 (only the doors are from the original temple). It now houses a collection of Buddha statues from all over South-East Asia. The highlight of the collection is a copy of the 'Golden Pha Bang' (The real one is Laos's most important national treasure and is stored in a bank not available for public viewing). Amongst the treasures is the 'Atom Struck Tile', taken from a temple in Hiroshima, Japan that was destroyed by the atomic bomb, dropped on the city.

We then took the local bus to Buddhist/Animism/Hindu park that was full of statues of these religions. Pretty wild!

This is a Statue that you can enter and it simulates the different levels of suffering.

This is the view from the top.

This is a giant reclining Buddha praticing laying meditation.

This is That Luang which is the holiest Stupa in Laos. Built by King Settathirat in 1566, it is unique in shape and the most important religious symbol of the country.

This is me making good merit by donating some change to the temple and the Abbot gave me a bracelet and blessed me with holy water.

On another day Leang and I visited Anousavari Monument which is the triumphal arch of Vientiane built in 1962. It was constructed out of concrete that the USA gave Laos to cponstruct an airport for the war. Laos made this monument for the people who died in wars defending the country.

At the top the view of the city is beautiful.

On the building people write their names and the date they are here. Most of names are in Laos or Thai language, but some are English as well. Leang and I both wrote out name too.

Vientiane would be the last place in Laos we would visit.

In my experience of Laos, the people are not as friendly as in the other countries I have been to in SE Asia. In Myanmar my experience was wonderful, Malaysia, same thing, the people were great, very helpful and were honest with me. Over-all Thai people are really friendly as well. In Thailand, even if they don't like you or if they have a problem with you, they are still respectful and keep control of their emotions for the most part. Because farang don’t understand what the Thai people are saying in Thai, they maybe speaking poorly about you, but they are still cordial, and this keeps things from ruining the rest of your day. Yes, it is bad manners to talk about someone badly, but lets face it, do you really want to know what they think of you during a disagreement? Or would you rather settle things, move on, have a good rest of your day and let it go?

I have seen tourists get pretty disrespectful with Thai people many times, and yet after being in Thailand as long as I had, I've only seen Thai people loose their cool 2 times, and it was a short out-burst, and totally legit on their part.

Laos people are not this way, my overall experience has been terrible with the people. Perhaps you couldn’t tell from my blog entries; I try to make the most of things and adapt and enjoy my circumstances regardless of other peoples attitudes. But if you have a disagreement, Lao people will shout at you, they will loose their tempers, because they simply don’t care as much. The people lie left and right, only care about money and will lead you astray if they feel it will benefit them.

So many times when we would take a tuk-tuk we agreed on a price in the beginning and by the time they would drop us off they tried to argue with us about the price saying that is not what they agreed to. Leang speaks Thai and Laos. We did make correct agreements. I even know my numbers in Thai and Laos and can make a deal. We wouldn’t pay more, no way! We would pay what we agreed on, but there was always an argument that would ensue, and let me tell you…I did the arguing and always told Leang to walk away. It really upset him. I hated seeing him stressed out when he was supposed to be enjoying himself on this journey. Things like this happened all the time with the Laos people. He couldn’t understand why a person would behave that way. He is a good natured Buddhist monk dedicated to a life of honesty, peace and meditation. He is not accustomed to lying, cheating and arguing. Eventually with taxis and tuk-tuk drivers I started making them write the cost down and I kept it in my little note book to show them at the end when they would drop us off as to prevent problems. I suppose it is because the country is communist and the workers pay the government money, so they struggle to make more from tourists.

I can't even count the number of times we asked someone something and they flat out would lie to Leang and I. Now I could cut them some slack if they were only lying to a tourist, still not great....but its a BUDDHIST COUNTRY, and lying to a a MONK?!?! I mean common people!!! Get a grip on your karma!

We both were appalled by this....every town, every place we visited the same thing. The exceptions to this were the really friendly Laos guy from the boat ride and the monks/novices in Luang Prabang. Every professional experience we had pretty much left a bad taste in our mouths.

Our original plan was to part ways in Vientiane; I would fly to Vietnam, and Leang would return to Thailand to help his old Abbot at the temple he lived at when he first became a monk during Songkran festival. Songkran is the Thai name for the Buddhist New Year. In Laos it’s Pii Mai. Leang’s ex-Abbot requested he come to help at the temple since there is only the Abbot and one other monk. Leang agreed before we left Chiang Mai, and this is what our plan was.

However, while in Vientiane, Leang called to his old Abbot at Wat Bonpong in Thailand and mentioned that he was with me but would be leaving Laos soon to come there. He explained who I was and the Abbot was thrilled. He invited me to come there and spend Thai New Year in their small village.

I accepted!

Woo-Hoo!!! Back to Thailand we go!!!