Day 11 Wednesday Phonsovan to Vientiane

This morning we drove from our hotel to the third of the 3 main sites to view the unexplained large stone jars. On the way we stopped twice – firstly to take some photos of 3 little Hmong girls dressed up in the traditional clothes. Today is the first day of the 3 or 4 days celebration of the Hmong new year and we passed a family walking along the street. They were happy to be photographed. A little later we drove passed a larger group of about 20. They were playing a ball game and were , once again, happy for us to take photos. There were 2 lines of girls facing each other throwing a ball back wards and forwards to each other in pairs using only 1 hand. Apparently it is traditionally played with a boy and a girl but we saw only the girls. There were some boys watching but when we passed they were not taking part.

Yesterday we were the only tourists at the 2 sites of jars that we went to, so today it was a bit of a let down to have other tourists looking around with us. There was an adult Hmong woman dressed up a singing – without apparently wanting money. Maybe it was a new year thing.

Back in Phonsovan we had hoped to visit the office of MAG (Mines Advisory Group) to see their display of the clearing of UXO’s and watch a video, however the office was closed for the new year celebrations. We had a leisurely lunch then short drive to airport, wait, short flight, wait for bags, bus to hotel. Usually stuff – waiting.

Vientiane , the capital of Laos , has a population of 600,000. It is the only city in Laos to have traffic lights. It took 15 minutes to drive from the airport to our hotel. It has a peculiar feel. Old French buildings , usually in a sad state of disrepair, new office blocks built in a style that I think is meant to be Laotian – the roofs look like temple roofs but the rest is a rectangular boring box, often white with goldy coloured decorations and many old buildings. Brand new large 4WD alongside tuk tuk’s and street sellers. Modern coffee shops next to a local Asian restaurant – ingredients on a table in the front with the wok on a burner and a few simple tables - , massage places, restaurants of all different cuisines, next to a shop selling, eg, tyres.

Mrs MW and her husband and I went to a ‘French’ restaurant where we had ravioli for dinner. It was delicious.