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Move forward to a Vientiane street that looks abandoned
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aylight Sunday peeped in with series of meet-ups ahead of us.
My sister's friend a local Lao came for a visit to our hotel for some catch-up news. Fetching a car, she took us on a ride to nowhere to scan around Vientiane's daily grind.
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| No signs of traffic the further on our way |
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Not so many private vehicles even public utilities mean less polluted Vientiane
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| Roaming around Vientiane is like being taken to the roots of Asian heritage |
Unlike Thailand, Laos is a smaller republic part of the Indo-China conglomerate with fewer to offer or a selection of places like malls, and big groceries to go. Small shops, restos, and parks dominate the otherwise still crude arrangement. Either a tuk-tuk or hiring a motor can only be a visible means of transport while the city bus has its plying schedule. Laos perhaps is just binding its time towards development without visible infrastructure projects. In short, Laos offers a more laidback tourist setting preserving the Asian traditions and old format with its ever-present temples along with the Buddhist monks as part of the city landscape. Buddhism extent has another deep entrenchment in this country as much as in Thailand.
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| Vientiane's Organic Market where all the vehicles scramble to park |
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The busiest part is the wet section...freshness matters
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| Park at your own risk in Vientiane public market |
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| Veggies sold in streets are organic stars |
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| The sweatshops are part of the scan list |
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| Something about sidewalk vendors selling native deli so charming |
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| An assortment of retail goodies |
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| Breads are popular in Indo-China countries like Laos for banhmi |
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Sticky rice made to look like a fried banana on a stick
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The Laos lady friend became our city guide taking us to the innermost parts part of Vientiane's typical order into its city market with rural feels. We had the opportunity to roam inside the organic market on Nongbone road with its usual wet and dry sections, sweatshops, and pedestrian peddlers. Vendors are open to haggling as we sealed the deal with some vegetables and fruits. Motorcycles dominated the parking slots, and a nearby street food vendor gave us a chance to taste the rice on sticks that look like bananas and it was not even intimidating to interact with them since our facial features look like one. Then we charged into another transfer looking for my sister's long-lost acquaintance.
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| The ASEAN Mall in Vientiane is a complex of stalls and residence |
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Our Filipino hosts preparing a welcome dinner
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Prayers of concern with fellow Filipinos and Laos friends
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They call it ASEAN Mall in the part of Kamphengmeung road, more like a complex of merchandise shops. On one of its apartments, a lady with a familiar greeting in Filipino warmly received us. She is running a language center and a small church for a little Filipino community along with the rest of her family. They served us a hearty meal and some conversations in Tagalog for some updates on their life and prospect in Laos. She said that the Pinoy community in Laos is very much embraced despite the difference in language. With growing numbers of local Laos attending the church, there’s no denying of the camaraderie of the cultures and collaborations as we ended with prayer and fellowship.
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| A relaxing neighbor view in our host veranda |
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| A little garden in the balcony ...a nice diversion |
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Our teacher host cooking sinigang for our welcome treat
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Ice Cream in Laos is like Selecta in the Philippines
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Before midnight shut, we managed to pay a visit to some Pinoy teachers in Vientiane just a walking distance after a drop-off from the hotel. We shared a locally made ice cream for a dinner that night and some goodies to share as our tokens. Nightlife in Vientiane is far from the bustling Bangkok, more peaceful and less distracted and stressful for long-time city dwellers that our Pinoy teachers have gotten used to but they confessed there are still minor crimes.
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A Vientiane city compound is like many others a story of the silent sanctuary
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