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Today we were picked up at 9am and whisked to the bus station for our short ride back to the capital, Vientiane - only 3 hours this time! We were very tempted to book into Hotel Khamvongsa again after our last stay, but we decided that we should really stay somewhere cheaper this time so we headed to Saysouly Guesthouse instead when we arrived.
We'd found this place in the Lonely Planet guidebook and it was OK, although it was a bit tired and needed updating. Our room in Vang Vieng was much nicer and was the same price - the guidebook called it 'capital city syndrome'! We mentioned to the guy at reception that we wanted to go to Kong Lo tomorrow on our way to visit the famous cave the following day and he told us about a direct bus that goes every day from Vientiane. This sounded perfect as the guidebook describes having to make lo9ts of changes to get there, so we decided to book it. He charged us 140,000 each (about £11.60) which was probably a bit high and included his commission but worth it if we didn't have to change buses in the middle of nowhere!
Then we headed out to see one of Loas' most famous monuments, Pha That Luang. This golden temple was built in the sixteenth century by King Setthathirath but was damaged massively when the Siamese ransacked Vientiane in 1828. It was abandoned and dismantled by treasure seekers until being eventually restored by the French in 1900. It's set in a large open square and King Setthathirath's statue stands outside. The temple looked very impressive as we approached it, golden and shining in the afternoon sun. IT was only when we got closer that we could see where the paint was wearing off, so that it looked a bit dirtier up close! Someone needs to get the gold paint out… We paid our 5000kip entry fees, and had a wander around. The temple is built on three levels which get smaller as they get higher. The first represents the material world and has four arches (one on each side) leading to the second level. The third level including the spire, represents a lotus bud and is apparently a metaphor for enlightenment (?). It was a stunning sight, although I was a bit disappointed that you couldn't get any higher than ground level; all of the arches were either blocked off or had 'No Entry' signs hanging from them.
After the temple, we caught the same tuk-tuk back to town and escaped from the incredible heat into a really good coffee shop, where we read the papers, got a free refill on our coffee and ate cake - nice! Then we went back to the hotel for a few hours - need to have our afternoon rest!
In the evening, we walked a few minutes up the road to a restaurant with a wide range of options on the menu. It was a modern places, with a Western feel but was packed out with rich-looking locals and businessmen - it was quite pricey for Laos! I ate Laap with sticky rice (the Laos national dish and this one very spicy!) and Laura had mixed satay - delicious! We didn't stay out late as we're only here one night - of on our cave adventure tomorrow, so anything could happen!
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