North Laos - Vientiane

Nous arrivons à Vientiane pour y passer le réveillon de fin d’année, sans vraiment savoir à quoi nous attendre… Nous y retrouvons plusieurs amis cyclistes rencontrés dans le nord, avec qui nous soupons le soir du 31. Nous rejoignons ensuite une des places principales de la capitale pour un concert aux couleurs de la bière nationale. La fête réunit aussi bien des touristes que des gens locaux, pour qui le véritable réveillon a lieu en avril. Toutes les raisons sont bonnes pour eux pour une fête bien arrosée, surtout avec un Dj animant la soirée jusque 2h30 !

The journey to Vientiane, the capital of Laos wasn’t anything special. In fact, the first day was pretty tedious, with a lot of traffic and dust. On the second day it was much better though, as there was an alternative road to the main road which was in a much better condition and without much traffic.

We arrived in Vientiane just in time to celebrate New Year which we decided to spend with some other cyclist we have been bumping into regularly for the past three weeks. After dinner we went to a large outdoor stage “Beerlao” party, attracting a mix of locals and tourists. Lao people celebrate the international New Year as well as their New Year in April -I think any good excuse for a party here will do. People love gathering in groups in order to eat and drink and listen to music.

After counting down the seconds, we got sprayed with plenty of local beer and everybody began to dance. Many people with small children left pretty much straight away and just a small crowd remained until the end of the party at about half past two.

Après une journée de récupération, nous visitons la ville, ses temples, son marché nocturne, ou encore le « parc Buddha », grand jardin rassemblant des statues géantes en béton. Pour une capitale asiatique, Vientiane garde encore une échelle raisonnable, sans trafic étouffant ou immeubles démesurés. On peut aisément s’y promener à pied ou à vélo et faire le tour du centre en une journée. Nous y resterons cependant une semaine…

Having rested for a day after the New Year celebrations, we spent two days visiting the city. There are not that many tourist sites in Vientiane and most of them can be visited in a day or two. On the first day we took a bus to get to the “Buddha Park”, as the name explains it’s a small park outside the city centre with huge Buddha statues made of concrete. In the city centre we visited some more temples, one of which is the most important national monument in Laos, called Phat That Luang. Although Vientiane is a capital, it is reasonable in size and you can visit the city by bike or walking. We liked the chilled out atmosphere and the local food (the night market was great) and stayed quite a few more days than planned.