Day Sixteen (26/10/2024) Heading for home (Vientiane - Singapore - Melbourne )

Jan and I rose early for another look at Vientiane on foot. As we left the Hotel headed for the side streets and some city exploring, we saw a barefoot monk dressed in maroon robes with a large alms bowl. Having travelled through a few Asian countries we knew that robes this colour indicated that the monk was probably from Myanmar. He was on his own which was unusual so we followed him for a distance to see where he was going. At the risk of being accused of stalking a monk we turned off to see what else we could find.
We came across an interesting small park with a rather peculiar shrine: we were intrigued by the animals on it but even more intrigued by the gold sequinned clad figures inside it dancing!!Seemed to be a Hindu shrine but it was a mystery!
Within a short distance we came across a couple of temples starring huge elephants at their entrances. The opening hours were interesting: there’s not many places where the opening hours start at 4.30am. Back to the Hotel for a last multi-course breakfast and a final pack. 7We decided we had time for a last Lao coffee so went to a small coffee roastery called Common Grounds whose coffee was great so I bought some for home. We loved their signs!
On the way to the Airport to catch a Scoot flight to Singapore, Souk talked about all of the places we had not visited, to lure us back again! The one place we would love to have seen is the Plain of Jars which has huge ancient ceramic jars dotted all over it. There are lots of explanations but no certainty about what they were for: human ashes, water, rice wine etc. etc. To get there currently involves a 10 hour drive on rough unsealed roads; so we thought we’d wait until the Airport is functional. We’ve experienced enough bouncing around on very rough roads this trip! Souk guided us through the wonders of the Japan-Lao International Airport. We didn’t bother to try and check-in online as that hasn’t gone well before. There’s so much of the major infrastructure here that is funded by other countries.
As we were waiting to check in we spotted a huge ad at the back of the check-in counters for the China Belt and Road initiative but this time it talked about traditional medicine which seemed weird until we realised the ad was sponsored by a pharmaceutical company! We all felt rather sad to be leaving as we’ve had a great time. Challenging for us as we all age, but some memorable experiences We arrived safely in Singapore and spent a few hours waiting for our overnight flight, including a stop at the Lego shop. A sleepless night complicated by the 4-hour time difference with Laos saw us landing at Tulla at 5.20am. With electronic passports etc and no other flights we were the first baggage to arrive on the carousel (!) and through the formalities quickly. We were glad to finally be home and ready to reflect on our wonderful memorable trip to Laos. your satisfied and weary correspondent Dianne

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