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November 2001

Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic

Jeremy Koh
2005-11-05 11:36:01

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Armed with only information about her faculty and name of university, we hired a tuk-tuk for 100 baht to bring us there. Upon arrival at the University, we were almost denied entry by the security guard who demanded to see a pass which obviously we didn't possess. Luckily my tuk-tuk driver saved the day by leaving something with the guard to be retrieved when we exit the campus. Inside, the various faculties, housed in separate buildings, were spread over a vast area. It wasn't easy finding the English Department which is the department Kongchay belonged to. The people we asked for directions in English, i suspect many barely knew what we were referring to. After driving up and down the streets of the university aimlessly trying to spot the department, we finally chanced upon a Caucasian. He finally directed us in the direction of the English Department. However, at the department, more trials awaited us. Nobody knew who we were referring to. Luckily we met a very helpful girl called Care (This is how i think it is spelt), who brought us around and helped us to locate my friend. The information i had was wrong. She is a sixth year student but i thought she was a fifth year student. If not for Care, we might not have been able to find her at all. Kongchay was having her lessons then so we decided to meet up for dinner later on.

Day 1- Grand Sacred Stupa

We returned to our tuk-tuk driver who was waiting to bring us back to Thanon Samsenthai. Along the way, he paused to ask us if we wanted to visit the Grand Sacred Stupa (Pha That Luang) for 50 baht more. We decided to have a look since we were in the vicinity. It was painted in gold and is a beautiful sight to behold. It is also supposed to contain a relic of the Lord Buddha. The Grand Sacred Stupa is the most important national monument in Laos, a symbol of both the Buddhist religion and Lao sovereignty (May 1999, Lonely Planet-South East Asia on ...