Day 315 - Royal Palace - Minivan to Vang Vieng
Saturday, May 18th, 2019.
Today after breakfast, Gregory and I went to visit the Royal Palace museum. We were told that it was going to be free since it was International Museum Day. The whole reason for coming today was to save the admission fee. Well, we didn’t. We had to pay because no one knew about the International Museum Day. We both got a little upset but whatever, we were there and had to see it. [Gregory's note: 3 words: Communist government employees.]
The fancy building is actually a temple inside the palace complex and you don’t have to pay to see it. You can admire the interior of the building and old Buddha statue that is inside. [Gregory's note: actually, you can only glance inside at the Buddha. There's no real interior and you can't go in, anyway.]
The palace museum is what you really pay for. When we got there, we were informed that we had to take our bags and phones to the locker room. We walked over to leave my bag. We returned to the palace where we had to take off our shoes and hats. [Gregory's note: they remove your phones, hats, bags, shoes, and money. Next, they'll be asking me to remove my pants or something.]
The palace was really more like a large house with simple wooden furniture. Nothing ostentatious. They had a few presents from around the world, like porcelain vases from China and Japan, China from Poland swords from France, etc. There were several photos and paintings of the king and queen of Laos who lived in the palace [Gregory's note: until they were deposed in 1975 by the Communist government which is still in power. 1975 is not a coincidence, it's the year the US left Vietnam.]
We finished earlier than we thought so we walked to see a temple nearby where we heard some prayers. We took off our shoes and saw the service was ending and it was lunch time for the monks. Locals brought food first for the elder monks and then we saw many younger men in their orange robes having lunch on the side. Some were children. We found out later that many poor people send their kids to a monastery so their children can have food and a good education. Just like it happens in the poor villages in Mexico.
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped to buy fresh juice from a stand. I got lemon-mint juice. It was out of this world, so refreshing. The temperature must have been close to 100F. It is just impossible to be outside. We made it to our hotel and I ran to take a shower, my second one of the morning. We got ready to check out and paid the bill. We hung around the lobby, which it didn’t have AC but at least was cooler than outside. The kids and I walked to a place nearby to get baguette sandwiches for lunch.
The minivan to Vang Vieng came to pick us up at 2:00. It only took 4 hours. The driver stopped twice for bathroom breaks. We were dropped in front of a backpacker hostel and I told Gregory to ask the driver if he could take us to our hotel. I just didn’t see any taxis around. Gregory, as always, calmly took his cell phone out and said to me, look how close we are to our hotel. We were two doors down.
Our three-star hotel is a wannabe five-star hotel, so it has nice furniture but some tacky decor. I’m not complaining, it's just my personal observation. Sometimes I think simple is more elegant but when people try to look rich and add gold furniture or tacky lights, well… it just spoils it.
Anyway, we rested until 8pm, then we walked down the main road looking for a restaurant. I was surprised to see so many young people in town. There were many bars and restaurants playing loud music. This is when I can tell that I’m getting older because it was just too loud for me. The food prices were cheaper than in Luang Prabang. Maybe because it is a smaller town but it was more alive and louder than LP. We found a small restaurant on one of the side roads and had a big meal. After that, we walked to see the Nam Song river and a bamboo bridge. There were many restaurants with tables and chairs on the river. The lights looked lovely and I would have loved to stay if it wasn’t for the loud music.
Vang Vieng gave me the impression of being a town for college kids where you can do fun activities for cheap. The place is full of hostels, restaurants, cafes, and bars. We saw many groups of young people. Not sure if I like it. In any case, there is an amazing nature to go visit like waterfalls and caves.
Today after breakfast, Gregory and I went to visit the Royal Palace museum. We were told that it was going to be free since it was International Museum Day. The whole reason for coming today was to save the admission fee. Well, we didn’t. We had to pay because no one knew about the International Museum Day. We both got a little upset but whatever, we were there and had to see it. [Gregory's note: 3 words: Communist government employees.]
The fancy building is actually a temple inside the palace complex and you don’t have to pay to see it. You can admire the interior of the building and old Buddha statue that is inside. [Gregory's note: actually, you can only glance inside at the Buddha. There's no real interior and you can't go in, anyway.]
The palace museum is what you really pay for. When we got there, we were informed that we had to take our bags and phones to the locker room. We walked over to leave my bag. We returned to the palace where we had to take off our shoes and hats. [Gregory's note: they remove your phones, hats, bags, shoes, and money. Next, they'll be asking me to remove my pants or something.]
The palace was really more like a large house with simple wooden furniture. Nothing ostentatious. They had a few presents from around the world, like porcelain vases from China and Japan, China from Poland swords from France, etc. There were several photos and paintings of the king and queen of Laos who lived in the palace [Gregory's note: until they were deposed in 1975 by the Communist government which is still in power. 1975 is not a coincidence, it's the year the US left Vietnam.]
We finished earlier than we thought so we walked to see a temple nearby where we heard some prayers. We took off our shoes and saw the service was ending and it was lunch time for the monks. Locals brought food first for the elder monks and then we saw many younger men in their orange robes having lunch on the side. Some were children. We found out later that many poor people send their kids to a monastery so their children can have food and a good education. Just like it happens in the poor villages in Mexico.
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped to buy fresh juice from a stand. I got lemon-mint juice. It was out of this world, so refreshing. The temperature must have been close to 100F. It is just impossible to be outside. We made it to our hotel and I ran to take a shower, my second one of the morning. We got ready to check out and paid the bill. We hung around the lobby, which it didn’t have AC but at least was cooler than outside. The kids and I walked to a place nearby to get baguette sandwiches for lunch.
The minivan to Vang Vieng came to pick us up at 2:00. It only took 4 hours. The driver stopped twice for bathroom breaks. We were dropped in front of a backpacker hostel and I told Gregory to ask the driver if he could take us to our hotel. I just didn’t see any taxis around. Gregory, as always, calmly took his cell phone out and said to me, look how close we are to our hotel. We were two doors down.
Our three-star hotel is a wannabe five-star hotel, so it has nice furniture but some tacky decor. I’m not complaining, it's just my personal observation. Sometimes I think simple is more elegant but when people try to look rich and add gold furniture or tacky lights, well… it just spoils it.
Anyway, we rested until 8pm, then we walked down the main road looking for a restaurant. I was surprised to see so many young people in town. There were many bars and restaurants playing loud music. This is when I can tell that I’m getting older because it was just too loud for me. The food prices were cheaper than in Luang Prabang. Maybe because it is a smaller town but it was more alive and louder than LP. We found a small restaurant on one of the side roads and had a big meal. After that, we walked to see the Nam Song river and a bamboo bridge. There were many restaurants with tables and chairs on the river. The lights looked lovely and I would have loved to stay if it wasn’t for the loud music.
Vang Vieng gave me the impression of being a town for college kids where you can do fun activities for cheap. The place is full of hostels, restaurants, cafes, and bars. We saw many groups of young people. Not sure if I like it. In any case, there is an amazing nature to go visit like waterfalls and caves.
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DAV2EaHainGjkMiPA
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