Sometimes it takes a visitor to make a person be a tourist in their own city. All you Torontonians out there, for example, when is the last time you have actually been inside the CN Tower? The same is true for me here in Vientiane. The arrival of Rita, a former MCCer who now lives in Thailand, was a much needed excuse to get out and explore some of the sites here in this city. Rita, by the way was wonderful company. One benefit to living in a place like Laos is that you meet fascinating people on a regular basis!
Anyhow, here are some pictures from that afternoon of visiting temples. I was wearing a traditional Lao skirt that day (as always) and for some reason that made me a tourist attraction in my own right. More than one family of Thai tourists asked to have their picture taken with me and later on a group of young monks started a conversation with me, under the assumption that anyone wearing a Lao skirt must speak Lao. After Rita took a picture of me talking to the monks, another tourist stopped and asked if I could arrange to have his picture taken with the monks as well!
Monks, you see are a source of fascination for tourists and all other newcomers to this country. With their closely shaved heads and brilliant robes they do seem pious and mysterious. But after spending some time here you learn that nearly every Buddhist man will be a monk at one point in his life or another. Poor families send their boys to live at monasteries and receive a free education and many young men will join the monk hood for several weeks or months prior to their wedding or after the death of a loved one. As you might expect, monks are abundant here. Still it was a rare opportunity for me to be able to have a real conversation with these young monks.
Being a tourist was fun for a change and with the arrival of my parents tomorrow for a two week visit, I look forward to many more opportunities to explore this city.
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