Onward we march, down Setthathilath Road, taking a left at the French Embassy to cut across to Khouvieng Road, on the way passing by the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, the only Catholic Church in Vientiane.
Directly past the church lies the central bus station, which is packed with people, scooters, tuk tuks, food stands and, yes, buses. We pick our way through the moving crowds and turn right onto Khouvieng Road to continue our journey. This is a busy commercial road, with really rotten sidewalks. There are many places where the sidewalks are so narrow, or clogged with trees, that you are forced to walk in the road – a 4 lane relatively fast moving road I might add. We pass the “World Trade Center” – a new retail, shopping and entertainment center – which is under construction and totally marketed to the Chinese judging from the signs and billboards on the construction fence. There isn’t any activity going on there at all – so we’re figuring the boom has already passed them by and they have just left the unfinished building. Later, we find out that there was a massive fire there in early December, and no work has been done on the complex since.
Continuing on, we pass the brand new, and incredibly opulent “Vientiane Center,” which is ostensibly the tourist information center – but looks like some sort of magnificent museum. Finally, after dodging stray sidewalk trees and oncoming vehicular traffic, we arrive at COPE. Which is well worth the death march.
COPE is a non-profit NGO created in partnership with the Lao Ministry of Health that is dedicated to helping disabled people in Laos regain their mobility. They develop and fit prosthesis for people with physical disabilities, most notably, those who have been hurt by UXO explosions. About 1/3 of COPE’s 1200 aid recipients are UXO survivors, another third are vehicular accident survivors and the rest either with congenital disabilities or injured through industrial or other types of accidents. The work they are doing is truly amazing, and the Visitors’ Centre vividly displays their work and the stories of the people they have helped throughout the years.
In front of the entrance, you are greeted by these wonderful statues, made up entirely of UXO pieces and parts – a wonderfully artistic way to introduce you to what you are about to experience. From there, the signs say it all, from the witty Visitor Centre sign with a crutch as the “T”, to the COPE sign spelled out in old prosthesis.
Inside are two large, open rooms with photos and drawings explaining the bombing of during the “secret” war, a replica village hut and loads and loads of prosthesis – from early iterations to the more "futuristic” current models - for every limb and configuration imaginable. We can’t say it was a wonderful visit, but it was incredibly informative and interesting, heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. We finished our tour and helped support the cause by buying coffee and a wonderful book about Lao history in the gift shop. Beside supporting the cause, the best thing about the purchases was the bag they gave us to carry them in – it was made entirely of old newspaper, including the braided handle. It was too cool to use – so I immediately took our purchases out of the bag, folded it up and put everything in the back pack for safe keeping.
On our way out, we passed another ingenious repurposing of American armament – a boat made from B52 fuel tanks that were dropped during the war. Talk about resourceful.
Back on the street, we pick our way back toward the center of town, passing the Vientiane shopping mall, and stopping for a quick stroll. Nothing interesting – except the scooter shop located inside the mall – yes, a scooter showroom in a small little store front well away from the doors to the outside. Not exactly much for fire safety here, apparently.
We continued on our trek back to Lane Xiang Road, figuring we’ve come this far, we’ll just go all the way to the Patuxai monument. After a detour into a dusty parking lot that I thought might be the morning market (it wasn’t, it was simply a dusty parking lot), we passed the bus station again, and finally made it to the main avenue. Another detour through what we found out later was in fact the morning market – it looked more like a mall to me – and we were on our way up the avenue, past Wat That Phoun with this great bas relief on the side…
…. to the Patuxai Monument, where we had a great opportunity to be really artsy with the monks who were walking in front of us.
Of course the girl with the umbrella was a pretty good shot too….
The monument looks like a miniature Arc de Triomphe and is rumored to be constructed of concrete that was donated by the Americans to build a new airport. It is really quite impressive, if not a little massive and in need of a little TLC. A sign inside the arch even alludes to this, as you can see below.
We’re not sure if they meant to be humorous or what, but we laughed out loud when we read it. Choosing to be lazy and not walk up the 7 flights of stairs, we pass on the “excellent view point,” take a last look around, then head back in the direction of the hotel.
As we walk, we look for a place for lunch, since it is getting close to the noon hour, but there is nothing around here we can find. So, we keep walking, this time taking Samsenthai road in hopes of finding a restaurant, and to scope out the National Lao Museum, where we will visit tomorrow. The road is a mix of commercial and what appears to be ancient residential buildings. This house in particular caught our eye. We think it was actually inhabited, there was a car in the drive at least – but oh, what a fixer upper it could be! We’re thinking Bed and Breakfast!
On we walk, until we finally come upon the Lao Museum, and here we go again! Not only is it closed, it has moved way out of the city to the 6th Kilometer. Darn it. But, thank God we reconnoitered the place, or we would have totally blown our whole day tomorrow. Taking a picture of the sign for posterity, we cross the road and snap a picture of the gorgeous National Cultural Hall where concerts and plays are held….
..then continue on into our “neck of the woods” in search of food. We peruse the little bars and cafes on the block where the Good Earth is located, but nothing strikes our fancy. Plus, they are all open air, and we are in the mood for some nice closed A/C air. Finally we stumble upon Day 2 Night, this great little restaurant with two closed A/C dining areas, a lovely little outdoor garden seating area, as well as a rooftop seating area (not even on a dare! It’s brutal outside!). We point and smile our way into the A/C room and gratefully sink down into comfy chairs overlooking the decked garden. Simply heaven.
They have a great menu, full of all sorts of Lao and Thai specialties. Ed chooses the Fish Noodle soup (a Lao take on Pho) and I order the Fried Chicken and French Fry special I saw on the chalk board. Combined with 2 Beer Lao, and the A/C – and we are two very happy campers.
Cooled, rested and sated – we are ready to hit the hot pavements for a little more exploration.
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