Happy 450th, Vientiane; or, Monks With Rifles

After a 35 minute flight, we arrived in the Laotian capital city of Vientiane, on the border with Thailand. For a city of 300,000 it seemed surprisingly mellow.

This evening we took a Tuk Tuk (a 3 wheeled motorcycle taxi) to Pha That Luang, the iconic temple which graces the seal of Laos. The city is celebrating two things at once: the annual That Luang festival, which marks the end of Buddhist "lent"; and Vientiane's 450th anniversary. The celebrations near the temple are going on 24 hours a day.

We knew it would be busy, but nothing could have prepared us for the chaotic intensity. Everyone in the city was at the festival. We couldn't even get close to it in the Tuk Tuk because the traffic was so bad, so we got out and walked. As we waded through a sea of hundreds of thousands of people no taller than our shoulders, we were assaulted by throbbing bass beats, blaring sales pitches, and glossy advertisements. It seemed to go on forever. Deeper into the festival, we found quieter areas where monks were playing carnival games. In the midst of it all, there was the gleaming temple, and architectural masterpiece.

For the first time since China, we were the only Westerners in sight. Several groups of people wanted to get their photos taken with the American giants.