Stress Relief

Day 94: Vientiane (LAO). Vientiane had come a long way sine Paul Theroux described it in his 1975 book The Great Railway Bazaar as a place in which “the brothels are cleaner than the hotels, marijuana is cheaper than pipe tobacco and opium is easier to find than a cold glass of beer”. Today, the brothels have all have been closed down, the marijuana stands removed and a cold Beerlao is now the nightly drug of choice.

Change is happening fast in the Laotian capital, but unlike other Asian cities I certainly wouldn't use words like 'hustle' and 'bustle' to describe it. This had to be one of the most relaxed capitals on earth and Karen and I soon fell in love with it's unique charm. A fascinating place of contrasts; playing out the struggle between it communist past and inevitably more capitalist future. Where the National Museum glorified the victory over capitalist foreign imperialists whilst another slick restaurant was opening across the street in an area becoming known as one of the best-value dining cities on the planet.

And as with everywhere in Laos, you just have to take things 'nice and easy'. Fortunately, the main tourist sites were relatively close together and so mooching between Pha That Luang, Wat Si Saket and Haw Pha Kaeo was simple enough and when things got too hectic we could always chill out by the river with a couple of cold beers.

As the the afternoon shadows beginning to lengthen we arrived at Wat Sok Pa Luang, a beautiful little temple in a shaded, almost semi rural location. Here, the resident lay people offered us a traditional herbal sauna and an expert massage on the verandah of their little wooden stilt house. For the best part of 2 hours we were pampered, pummelled, pounded and caressed. Later on as we sipped our herbal tea and reflected on the most tranquil and relaxing of experiences, Karen remarked that the masseurs had covered a bit more territory than she was expecting. Unfortunately for me, I had suffered no similar surprise!