Read this blog: The one where we resisted the 80p trousers Sunday 16th February 2025 Matilda had identified somewhere she wanted to try for breakfast but unfortunately it wasn’t open on a Sunday so we returned to the Joma Bakery Café for baked morning goods. From here we booked an InDrive taxi to take us about 4km northeast of central Vientiane to Pha That Luang which translates literally as the “Great Stupa”. Its foundation dates back to the third century, when a shrine was built here to hold a relic of the Buddha. The current structure was built in 1566 after Vientiane became the capital of Laos although it has been renovated four times since then. A vast golden Buddha reclines near the entrance and the site incorporates many decorated graves. The central stupa stands in a vast compound flanked by two Buddhist temples and naga balustrades adorn many of the temple steps, guarding these holy buildings which . . . . . . feature the beautiful decorative painted carvings we have come to expect. Murals and paintings illustrating the life of Buddha also adorn some of the temple buildings. The roof of the central stupa was originally covered in gold […]
Laos
Read this blog: The one where Matilda gets to have her cake and eat it [twice] Friday 14th and Saturday 15th February 2025 Our flight to Wattay International Airport in Vientiane left from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok and we booked a taxi from the hotel to take us there. To our surprise, the driver seemed to be trying to tell us that it was expensive in Laos. As we stood in the queue to board, the man waiting behind us first complimented Robert on his Hawaiian shirt. This happens a lot. As the conversation progressed it transpired that he was an American athletics coach specialising in the pole-vault currently travelling on a year’s sabbatical. One of his students was a teenage girl from London. When Robert told him that he was also a pole-vaulter, the coach looked at his current girth and said good-naturedly, “a little while ago”. Some readers will be surprised to find out that Robert was an English schools level pole-vaulter and still in fact holds his school record for pole-vaulting, which he set over 40 years ago. He represented not only Warwickshire AAA but also the West Midland Schools at the English Schools Athletics […]