Vientiane: Something Laotian, Something French

Something Laotian and something French... Isn't Vientiane lovely? :).

Early this year, my work took me to Laos, a socialist and predominantly Buddhist SouthEast Asian country. I knew that it is a small country, as compared to its neighbors, Cambodia and Vietnam, and I have expected Vientiane, its capital city, to be very laid back.

Well, it is indeed laid back, as compared to other Southeast Asian capital cities, but Vientiane surprised me with its French architecture  amidst the Buddhist temples, ,monuments of its past monarchy , the Mekong riverside restaurants and some bullet riddled world war 2 buildings.

I was billeted at Beau Rivage Hotel Mekong. Beau Rivage (which means beautiful shore) sits very close to the Mekong River and is pretty close to the city center and other attractions.Everywhere in the hotel is a display of Lao traditional blanket weaves. The hotel felt very homey. 

My room at the 2nd floor

I loved strolling along the Mekong River- early in the morning, before I went to work, and in the evenings.  Many people jog, while I tirelessly take (tons of) pictures of lovely sunrise.  I can't have enough of sunrise. 

Mekong sunrise

Mekong sunrise

These early morning walks before also allowed me to see glimpses of the daily lives of the locals:  make shift markets along the roads, "baby" monks roaming around with alms bowl and some old ladies sitting by the road and waiting for the monks to pass by to give them something. There are also those bullet riddled buildings remnant of world war 2.

At night restaurants set up tables and chairs for al fresco dining at the riverside. My favorites were the grilled fish and hotpot. 

Dining at Mekong riverside

Despite it being a business trip, I had Saturday off and I went to see some sights. Luckily, many are within walking distance from my hotel: the Palais Presidentiel, which is very French, as is the Patuxai.  The different Wats or temples are also within the city center:  the Ho Pra Keo and Wat Sisaket.  The Chao Anouvong statue is also by the Mekong river, on the same street as the hotel.

Different sights in Central Vientiane

Well, I wish to be back some time again! 

A Day in Beach Garden Cha Am

I badly needed a break in June, as one would after a grueling first half of the year.  And since I have a workshop in Thailand at that time, and my Ecuadorian friend is coming over for my workshop, we made arrangement for a pre-workshop vacation.

We wanted to see the beach.  Phuket was out of the question because June is a stormy month and storms usually affect Phuket, as warned by our Thailand office security officer. We had to settle for places closer to Bangkok so we went for Hua Hin/Cha am-for some beach getaway and Ayutthaya , for some cultural exploration.  

Having did our research before travelling, we know our way-well, kind of. The mini bus station is located in Victory Monument, which can be reached via the BTS (train). Coming from Asok station, the terminal is at the left side exit of the Victory Monument station (Exit 2), right beside Century Cinema Mall. There are different booths for each destination- most are written in Thai. Luckily , the Hua Hin/Cha-am booth is in English.  

The booths at the mini bus terminal

We paid for our fare, got our ticket for 180 Baht each, and got confused :-D.  We were asked to wait for the minibus on one side-but it did take some time and the lady does not speak English. 

my "confused" friend

When the minibus finally came, we were expecting to board first since we were the first in the queue..which did not happen. So we ended up getting the most undesirable seat at the back-beside the luggages. It was however a fun 2.5 hours ride, with us talking all the way- which could probably have annoyed the other passengers. :)

We finally reached Hua Hin- and looked for a place to eat before boarding a taxi to Beach Garden Cha-am.  

Street food!

We reached the Beach Garden resort- and since we were booked for the cheapest room, we got the garden view, not the beach view..which kinda sucks because we went there for the beach. And so..we rushed to the beach, not wanting to miss the fun. And it was a clean, very nice beach...better than the beach at Amari Hua Hin hotel, where I was in March.

So nice that we stayed on until its dark...and had our Amarula drink, which came all the way from Africa. We had fun catching up, enjoying the wind and the sea, and trying to catch some pictures of lightning just for the heck of it.

And then it was dinner time at beach garden's restaurant.  We called it a day after dinner. We realized how badly we needed to rest.

Early morning was for catching the sunrise..we were surprised to see a bunch of young kids racing to the beach to do the same thing.  

Had quick breakfast, some time at the beach, a dip in the pool and then were off again to Bangkok to get ready for our Ayutthaya adventure the next day.

Mekong Sunrise at Kampong Cham

My most recent travel is not in Siem Reap, as I have wished, but in Kampong Cham and Phnom Penh in Cambodia. And as it is a work-related travel, I could not complain (hrmph*).

After some introductions and a short orientation at our Phnom Penh office, we headed to Kampong Cham.  With my Nepali colleague and another Cambodian colleague, we travelled for more than 2 hours under the 37 degrees heat of the sun, since it was almost lunch when we started.

From Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham, I lost count of the many, many, many pagodas we have passed by.  They seem to appear everywhere: in the city,or town centers, in the middle of rice fields, on top of a hill, everywhere! Wherever they are, they all look regal.

One of the Pagodas in Phnom Penh. Monk walking towards the pagoda.

We spent 2 nights at the Mekong Hotel,which is opposite the Mekong River. The rate is good at 18-dollar a night for a single/double occupancy room , which does not come with breakfast but with free wifi. 

Breakfast (which means baguette + banana + coffee/tea- yes, everyday) is served at $2.50. But there are also several restaurants close to the hotel which offer better breakfast, such as the Mekong Crossing, which is just across the hotel.

The Mekong Hotel6 Samdach Pann Rd., Kampong Cham, Cambodia

The rooms are a bit ran down but it is spacious.  The corridors, surprisingly, look like big ball room. But whatever it lacked in amenities and/or aesthetics, the best thing this hotel could offer is the view of Mekong River.  And I just loved waking up to sunset by the river. Bliss. 

Sunrise by the Mekong River. Fishermen do start early, everyday.