Buddha Park

Aside from the Patuxai the best part of Vientiane lies about 25 km SE of the city along the Mekong River. Buddha Park or Xieng Khuan (Spirit City) as it is known is filled with over 200 Hindu and Buddhist statues. It was created by Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat a priest/shaman who integrated Hinduism and Buddhism through art in 1958.

The park is accessible by a public bus or a private car, the hostel I stayed at organized a car with a few other people which while more expensive was definitely faster and a much more enjoyable experience. After a nominal fee I entered the park along with a bunch of school children here on a field trip. They scattered across the nice size park and I barely noticed them after that. I felt like I had been transported to a new dimension populated by Gods, dragons, and other entities.

What I really liked about the park was that it really forced you to interact with the sculptures- walking around and between them. Getting up close to examine the details before stepping back to see the larger picture. The tallest structure looks like a giant face with an open mouth going nowhere. Until I stuck my head in and realized that you could crawl around inside. There were mini statues inside and stairs that took you to the roof where you could look out on the entire park itself. Attached to the roof is a large tree like structure known as the pumpkin tower which can be seen below.

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Vientiane

 My return from the islands ended the first part of my Thailand adventure. When I arrived back in Bangkok I bought a train ticket to Nong Khai a city which bordered Laos. From Bangkok the train headed North and then West. Packed urban landscapes transformed into rural countryside outside my window. Small cities and towns clustered around the train tracks. When I first boarded the train some woman came by carrying fruit and soda. As the train continued the dishes became more and more elaborate until around dinner time a man walked through the train aisle with a chicken spatchcocked and roasted over a fire. The ride took a total of 10 hours and when we arrived at Nong Khai the sun had set on my last day in Thailand. I hopped in a tuk tuk and made the short trip to the border. I got my exit stamp out of Thailand and then road a bus across the border into Laos. I wasn’t sure what was waiting for me on the other side but I thrived in Thailand and I knew I would thrive in Laos as well.

When I was looking up things to do in Vientiane not much came up. It has a reputation as being one of the “sleepiest” capitals not just in SE Asia but the world. I wandered the night markets after my late night arrival and they did not have the bustling energy I had grown used to in Bangkok. When I woke up the next day I wandered around the downtown area. With a population of around eight hundred thousand people I was able to walk down large parts of the city without seeing anyone. The streets seemed to never know the weight of traffic- the air free of congestion.

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Vientiane has a number of beautiful temples, the oldest being Pha That Luang which i didn’t get to see, but through my wanderings i stumbled across some beautiful sculptures and temples celebrating Buddha. The architecture had slight differences from what I had seen in Thailand. It’s clear that Lao and Thailand are like sibling nations.

The crown jewel of the city for me has to be the Patuxai, a war monument built between 1957-1968. It is dedicated to everyone who died fighting the French during the struggle for independence. I loved sitting under it and examining the details in the ceiling. Vientiane was a very relaxing entry into the country of Laos, I had one more excursion around this capitol before I headed north to continue my journey.

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Adventures in the Andaman

My favorite movie growing up was Titanic which must be subconsciously connected to the fact that I can’t swim. In an attempt to face my fears, however, I boarded my second boat in just as many days to go deep into the Andaman Sea to explore the islands around Krabi. As the coast shrunk in my field of vision I eyed the life jackets tucked under the nose of the boat. There wasn’t enough for the number of people on board but I felt confident that if push came to shove I would end up with one. It’s not that I’ve never tried to swim, its just that I drowned during my first swimming lesson and never tried again. But I kept hearing everyone talk about snorkeling in Thailand and figured if there was any chance I would get over my fear of water it would be now.

The boat trip was sponsored by our hostel and it was one of the rare occasions were going on a tour through a hostel was cheaper then arranging it on your own. Ebony and I boarded the boat with about 15-20 other people. Our first stop was Tonsai Beach which Ebony and I had partially seen the previous day. But this wasn’t just any tour it was a party tour so after we got off the boat we all circled up on the beach and shotgunned the free beer we got with our ticket. The group separated and I explored the grassy areas to see if I could snap any pics. I loved the way the tall palms were an accessory to the bright blue sky and fluffy clouds.

After an hour we made our way back on the boat and went further out to sea, for snorkeling. I had to admit there was something so beautiful about being on the water. The rhythm of the boat as it bounces over the waves, the wind whipping around you, the smell of salt in the air. We stopped by this large lime stone rock that stuck out of the sea like a giant thumb. The water had created caves after hundreds of years of water beating against the soft porous rock. They passed out the scant life jackets and a bunch of people jumped into the water to go swim around. The main instructor had hoped we would be able to snorkel here but claimed the water was too murky and so we went even further out to sea.

By this time the coast was the size of a piece of paper on the horizon. The important mix of fear and excitement was churning inside of me as we stopped at our new location. There was another boat present with people snorkeling in the distance. I looked over the boat into the water below wondering what I would see beneath its surface. The instructor pulled out the snorkels and talked about how to use them, this was the first safety demonstration I had paid attention to in god knows how long. When he warned that the snorkels often get foggy I asked how I would mitigate that problem. He suggested we spit into the goggles and then rinse it with some water. The fear and excitement quickly turned to disgust. I started gagging, but told myself it was fine I could get past this. However when they told us that we would have to share snorkels I knew this dream might be coming to an end. If I was in the first round of people with snorkels then I could have convinced myself that they sterilize the snorkels after every trip. But watching everyone spit right in front of me shattered that fragile illusion.

Instead I decided I would try and float in the water. I pulled on a life jacket and wearily climbed off the boat. My knees were shaking as I made my way down the wooden ladder the boat rocking with the waves. The water was a lot warmer then I expected. When I was waist deep i decided to let go hoping I would float. The water was so salty that I did but the current was so strong that it began to drag me away from the boat. I quickly grabbed back onto the ladder and just bobbed like an animal clinging to a rope for dear life.

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After I pulled myself up on the boat I noticed that the captain kept tinkering with the engine. He pulled a wrench out of his bag and made some adjustments before pulling a lever that previously had started the engine only this time it made no sound. I started to grow concerned as people made their way back to the boat and I hadn’t heard the engine roar to life. Finally he revived the engine and we were on our way. Our final stop was Railay Beach where there is a beautiful cave system and a shrine dedicated to a Princess Goddess. According to tradition to pay your respects you must bring a phallus as a gift so the cave is literally filled with different sized carvings. The sun began to set so we hopped back on our boat and headed back to Krabi. While I didn’t get to snorkel I’m happy I at least got into the water and saw a cave full of penises.

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Krabi

I sat in the airport in Bangkok waiting for my early morning flight to Krabi. I had originally planned to head north at this time. But my plans were turned upside down at the behest of the universe. I listened to her call and went north instead, just in time for Loi Krathong. While I went up there for the festival I was also given a new family of travelers. A family that has now separated: some people heading back home but most headed off on new adventures.  I was happy that I was reconnecting with Ebony in Krabi for a couple days. Happier then I expected because I had grown so used to traveling with this community that I almost forgot how to do it on my own. As they called our gate to board  I looked out at the tiny plane that was going to take us to our destination and thought back to a comment that was made the last night we were all together sitting under the stars. Someone who had been traveling for longer then I said this was his favorite crew that he had traveled with. Initially I brushed off the statement but now I wondered if maybe it was true. Would I find any travel companions that jelled so completely?

When I landed in Krabi it seemed like all the heat and humidty I had missed while exploring the north of Thailand hit me at once. I got on a shuttle bus thankful for the air conditioning as it navigated its way through the city towards my hostel. Normally my attention is directed out of the window taking in the various sights of my new surroundings but I was hypnotized by a clear take away bag, that contained the drivers lunch, as it swung on the handlebars it was fastened to- reminding me that I was hungry. I got off in front of my hostel ready for a new adventure. It was too early to check in and my friend Ebony hadn’t arrived yet so I left my stuff in the lobby and went to go explore on my own and find some food.

            The sky was so blue and full of fluffy clouds that I imagine would taste like cotton candy. There was one main street that took you all the way to the beach. I walked down its wide avenues looking all the different shops. Large lime stone mountains, that kind that instantly signal Thailand, were visible from anywhere you looked. Since I was in the south I figured I would finally eat some seafood, I stopped at the first restaurant and recoiled at the prices. I made my way to the second a few shops down and the sky high prices kept me going. Everything was twice to three times the price it was in Chiang Mai. The prices of some dishes were higher then even Bangkok. Finally I found a place that had crab fried rice for 200 baht ($6) which I thought was high but reasonable. The flavor was delicious but less spicy then the food I was used to eating in the north, but that was nothing a squeeze of fresh lime and some chili oil couldn’t solve.  I headed back to the hostel grabbing a bottle of water along the way and snapping pics of the surrounding landscape.

By the time I had arrived back at the hostel Ebony had already arrived and we changed and headed out to Railay Beach. I wore my white shorts with a tan linen crop expecting that this would be a cute trip to the beach and that I wouldn’t have to get wet unless I wanted to. We paid the tickets for the boat and I expected us to be led to a dock where we could board safely, but no they lead us to a beach where the boats bobbed in accordance with the waves that were almost waist high. I placed my phone and wallet in my camera bag which I held high above my head as I waded into the water reluctantly. I tossed them over the deck and climbed up the ladder into the boat. I looked down and saw that the salty water had mixed with the sand slightly staining my freshly washed white shorts. When we were all packed in the rickety boat took us to Railay beach. The water was a beautiful bluish green color and we got a better view of the beautiful lime stone mountains. Despite all the beauty I wasn’t feeling Krabi as much as Chiang Mai or Bangkok. Maybe it was the high prices or the fact that I was still missing my travel crew, or how extremely touristy the area we were staying in.

When we arrived at Railay we hoped off the boat the same way we got in. We got a fruit smoothie before enjoying some time on the beach which was crowded but not unbearably so. We decided to see what else this beach had to offer so we went off in exploration and found a small tunnel that connected to a different beach we had seen on our way over called Tonsai beach. The path there was treacherous because we had to climb slippery rocks covered in sharp oyster shells. On the other side the area the sand was a lot grainer and the tide was pulled out so far that you could see all the rocks that were just under the waters surface. This beach was closer to the limestone mountains  so you saw a couple of climbers making their way up and down the rock faces. We realized it was getting late and that we needed to make our way back to the main beach for our return tickets were voided. The tide was coming back in which made our trek even more difficult but halfway through I saw this beautiful rock formation that I knew I needed to grab a picture by, silhouetted against the sun.  

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