Sights and Scenes: Vientiane City Center to Airport
New Year's Eve Party waiting in Bangkok. Let's go!
But and well, as usual, let's do this blow-by-blow, starting from when I left Ibis Hotel in Vientiane, all the way to when I arrived at Holiday Inn Silom in Bangkok. Blog series uli!
Bye Nam Phou!
I left the hotel at 1156H going to the airport. Eyes wide open and alert for the views, because I didn't have much time to roam this city, being here for less than 24 hours!
My flight was 1430H, was I early or late? Just enough! Besides, hotel check-out time nowadays is 1200H right? Aw, Ibis gave me a free hotel-to-airport transfer at 1200H.
Go!
Black Stupa
Historical attraction spotted - that's the Black Stupa or That Dam. Unfortuantely, we were turning left (westward direction) at this corner, for this is the way to the airport.
Mind you, that's only about 2 blocks away (around ~500 meters) from Ibis Hotel, but my early morning walk wasn't in that (northward) direction. I went happily eastward.
Anyway, it's the most intriguing ancient structure in Laos (or probably even the whole world), because 1) it has no real recorded history, or no one is attempting to do so, as to its date and reason for being erected; 2) it's old & ugly AND curated to remain so!
Yet, that's what makes it significant and worth a peek for tourists. Like the Ho Phra Keo, that is yet another example of their "Laos versus Thailand" historical narrative!
Through the years, the 'spiritual legends' and the 'political overtones' get intertwined so that the prevailing word-of-mouth keeps changing. Nakakalito na nakakabagabag!
On the one hand, some of my reliable sources say: "there is a 7-headed Naga (snake) living in there, and it's a (proven) spiritual protector of not just Vientiane but all of Laos".
They say: "the Naga protected Laos from the attack of Siam (Thailand) in 1827~1828".
They further say: "no one dares touch (repair) the stupa in fear of waking up the Naga"!
On the other hand, some of my other reliable sources say: "that stupa was a spiritual center; it contained treasures (offerings) and it was gilded in gold. It was ransacked and stripped of the gold by Siam Army in 1827~1828; some of those are now in Thai Wats".
They further say: "no one dares touch (repair) the stupa, to remember Siam attrocities"!
Di ba? If you scrutinize the narratives, nag-halohalo na ang mythology, folklore, local legends, actual war history and ambot na kung ano pa! Intriguing, thus worth visiting!
In any case, it is called Black Stupa because of not being golden like others.
Tara let's move on.., papuntang airport tayo hahaha!
Lao Plaza Hotel
After just one corner, probably 200 meters, I saw this: The Lao Plaza Hotel:
That's a noted hotel in Vientiane. Not new (circa 1997, when Laos started opening its doors to international tourism and investment) yet prominent in business and society.
A real luxury hotel, yet cheaper than many 'pipitsugin hotels' in our country. You can see prices online. In fact, for the price, it's definitely better than where I stayed. Yes.
It was on my list. Kinailangan ko lang malapit ang tulugan sa yugyugan kagabi eh!
Lao Plaza Hotel is a choice of many because it's near the center - eh kabilang block lang yan (mga 200 meters) ng Nam Phou Park. Katabi pa nya ang National Museum!
Sa likod is the National Stadium. Sa harap (left of picture above, as in across the road I was passing by) is the National Cultural Hall - diyan nag speech si Obama last 2016!
That cultural hall is like a PICC or CCP natin. That is where most ASEAN 2016 events happened. Sorry tayo walang pictures. Nasa kaliwa eh and my car was running fast.
Baka sabihin ng driver sya ang kinokodakan ko!
One thing funny about Lao Plaza Hotel is: it is surrounded by many smaller hotels! I know because I quickly researched on that before I came to max-out my stay. As in!
Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn & Suites
Okay. Just a kilometer onwards, I got this "very late" picture. Mabilis nga kasi kami!
That is the Crowne Plaza Vientiane - one I considered for this trip but 'it did not win'!
I said "very late picture" because... I wasn't even aiming to shoot Crowne Plaza yet! I was supposed to be taking a picture of Holiday Inn & Suites. Where's that? At right!
Yes, I was too late because Mr. Driver was rather fast hahaha.
Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, both IHG hotels, stand together with a modern front facade. Crowne came last year (2017), and Holiday Inn, I'm not sure if already open.
It's already bannered on their website, but the earliest available bookings I saw were for October 2019. However, and in any case hehe, both didn't win me over this time!
Why? Because I needed nga to be steps away from where I party (dahil minsan lang tayo mag-lasheng)! Eh Nam Phou District ang event ko, so I stayed at Ibis Nam Phu!
Now now.., a 'stronger' reason I didn't get an IHG hotel was: sayang ang points!
Eh I knew I was staying for less than 24hours. If I stayed at an IHG facility, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy my benefits as club member. Better to use them elsewhere!
I actually used some (All Accor) points at Ibis. But at least I was at Nam Phou.
Ayan, nagka-lesson learned pa tuloy. Managing your membership points wisely!
Chao Fa Ngum Park
Ah, across both hotels on my left side of the road was the back garden of Somerset Hotel, facing south to Setthathirath Road and the Mekong. Next to Somerset is this:
Chao Fa Ngum Park, and that is his statue in the very middle. And those buildings in the background would be Mekong Hotel & Apartments. Blurry photo ba? Oo naman!
Ikaw ba maging front seat on a fast-moving vehicle, then the park suddenly appears on your left eh kakatapos mo lang mag-picture ng Crowne Plaza sa kanan. Mahirap!
I had to quickly twist & turn for the shot - that's via the window behind the driver. Da!
Who was Fa Ngum anyway? He was the founder of the Kingdom of Lan Xang.
Why was that park significant to me? Well, it was to be my early-morning or evening walking/strolling area, had I chosen to stay at any of these hotels near or around it!
O di ba? Prepared kahit mabilisan lang tiningnan during booking of flights!
Mercure Hotel Vientiane
But I had to do another lightning-fast twist & turn back to my right side view for this:
Oh yes I've considered it when looking for a hotel on this trip. And it is also an Accor Hotel, mind you! Yet it too didn't win me over this time for the same reason as above.
Not sure if I'll regret not having stayed at that one on this trip. Y'know, I have insider buzz (aba malakas ang marites sa tourism oy!) that it's 'folding' very soon as Mercure.
Ang chika, natalo daw yan ng mga bagong hotel, like Crowne Plaza that just opened plus 'more coming' like Holiday Inn (opening 2019 daw, na 01January2019 na bukas)!
Anyway, I like the 'form' of that Mercure Hotel. More of 'sprawling' than 'towering' (it's just 4 storeys but a 4-star hotel). Plus, the location (or structure?) is likely historical!
Oy, it was already a building in the 1950s (di ko alam if iyan pa rin yan, di naman yata); it became a Belvedere Hotel (1992); then a Novotel (1995); then a Mercure in 2011!
Industry insiders say it will still be a hotel in 2019, by yet another name and owner!
Aliw! Just like planes, they change hands - sana sa tao ganun din hehehe!
Christians in Laos
Two minutes on (probably still less than a kilometer), we passed by this church:
The Nakham Church, or the Lao Evangelical Church of Vientiane, usually referred to as LEC [lek]. That is their main church in all of Laos, though there are 3 in Vientiane.
The technical brain said masyadong malapit (since it's a tall building of 3 or 4 floors). I waited 2 more seconds for the car to go farther; twisted and turned again, for this:
There it is, in full perspepctive! Hey, I didn't look for that church (why would I), it just incidentally was on my way to the airport, I saw it and remembered they are biggest!
Biggest? Yes, among Christians in Laos at about 200,000 or less.
Catholics count to about 100,000 or less. Together - plus the smaller denominations like Adventists etc., they (Christians) comprise to about 1.7% of the Lao population.
Another thing... yes, this is "one-scene-two-stories"! Look at the 2 photos above again.
Songthaew: like a jeep
That vehicle on foreground is called a Songthaew (ສອງແຖວ) [pronounced song-tao]. The name (and vehicle-type setup/construction) is originally Thai. It is a pickup truck!
For all intents and purposes, it functions like our Philippine Jeep". But a Songthaew is literally "a converted pickup truck", not like our Sarao, or Malagueña, or Almazora.
How does a songthaew differ from our jeep? It's smaller, narrower, shorter and the floor is generally higher from the ground, because that's how pickup trucks are made.
Ito gusto ko: old or new, a songthaew will always have a buzzer (or bell) installed on the ceiling, for riders to press when they want to get off. It's a "no-go" item for them.
I was told a driver will pull his songthaew out of service if that buzzer is broken, and that, is the biggest difference with our jeeps! It's a pickup truck kasi, hiwalay ang ulo sa katawan, so it's hard for a driver to hear sounds from his passengers at the back.
In Laos, hindi uso (dahil di ka rin naman maririnig) ang "para"; "lugar lang"; "diri lang"; "dida la"; "idiay lang"; "keti mu" kahit kumatok ka pa, magtititili o maglupasay. Buzzer!
Note: walang "para dyan sa side"; wala rin kumakatok o sumisipol hahaha! Buzzer!
Aw, they don't call it buzzer. They say bell ກະດິ່ງ [ka-ding] - kahit ang tunog eh "bzzz"!
Okay tama na yan.
Westernized Modernization
I was smilingly appreciating their houses and buildings along this main road. This is their capital city, but it felt like I was in some of our provincial cities. Nang biglang...
Whoa! Moderno! O di ba? The sign says Marina Entertainment. Driver told me it is a "night club", with nightly live bands, dancing, karaoke, etc., - a modern restobar vibe.
So okay, in fairness, Vientiane, all of Laos actually, just opened to the outside world in the '90s, yet they're catching up in terms of structures, activities - pati yata traffic eh!
That Marina thing is just about 500 meters from the Nakham Church.
Skylab: 3-wheeled and urban
Then we overtook this thing called Skylab (ສະກາຍແລັບ) [pronounced sa-kai-laeb]!
While we tourists (and even some locals) often offhandedly confuse the real names of these local vehicle concoctions, that Skylab, is technically/originally Not a Tuktuk!
Why and How? Ah, a Tuktuk (the original/legacy units of Bangkok, at least) were made out of the factories - engine, body, wheels and everything-about-it as Tuktuk. Whole!
The tuktuk is not a motorbike na dinugtungan ng kung anu-ano. It's whole.
For us passengers, the most noticeable feature of a tuktuk is "we're front-facing". In a Skylab, seats are on the side, parang sa jeep natin, or parang sa Songthaew above.
Of course it's also not the same as our Skylab (katig) in Mindanao (Comval, Surigao, Agusan, etc) since our version is just two-wheeled or habal-habal. Mas kuyaw ta oi!
Lastly, their Skylabs are on city streets, parang tricycle natin ang gamit.
Jumbo: not a hotdog; not a B747
Now children, there's a newer variant of Skylab called a Jumbo (ຈຳໂບ້) [cham-bo]. It is bigger (as the name implies) than the Skylab. Otherwise, they're 'generally' the same.
On the technical side... yes, me ganun tayo.., imagine a motorcycle; palakulin mo sa gitna; yung harapan ng motor, yun ang magiging harapan ng Skylab at Jumbo. Yung likuran, di ko alam inaano nila yun! Basta si harapan, kakabitan ng parang sa kalesa.
So.., ang ending, 3 wheeler vehicle na para nga naman tuktuk. Ganun as in like that!
I am still not sure (still asking around) if the engine of a Jumbo is bigger or of higher capacity than that of a Skylab. The obvious thing: it is bigger in size and load factor.
Oh, the Jumbos and Skylabs of Vientiane are different from Calbayog's "Center Car" (or Center Cab) like we've seen here and here. In Samar, they don't chop-off the rear portion of the motorcycle. It is still there (inside, and acting as support of) the cab.
So, the Center Car is technically a 4-wheeler. The Skylab and Jumbo, 3-wheelers!
*Update 2025 Here is an AI rendition of the 3 vehicles: Songthaew, Jumbo and Skylab.
Ah nga pala, I think the Songthaew is parang mga Elf or Canter sa atin (little flatbed pickup trucks), although the brand that I remember having seen a-lot-of is Changan.
And by the way too, according to their traffic laws (yes pati yun sinilip ko tuloy): the Skylab "may only have up to 9 passengers". So if its capacity is higher, Jumbo na yun!
Naaliw ako sa sightings, therefore topic na ito!
Anyway...
Near the airport
A minute onwards (my reflexes were late again), we passed by a Honda Showroom & Service Center at right for both cars and bikes. Not in picture, lagpas na! But it's big.
What about Honda? Ah di ko alam kung gumagawa din sila ng Songthaew, Jumbo o kaya Skylab hahaha! Basta ang alam ko, we were already in the Wattay Airport area!
How did I know that? Nakita ko ang logo ng Honda kagabi when I arrived!
Things of note in that picture: that vehicle in front of us is a Songthaew; that man at right is maybe employee of the parang 'munisipyo' sa kanan (Sikhottabong District).
The traditional roofs at left are the buildings of Wat Tai Yai.
That 'ball' up in the distance? Parang sa atin din, a doppler radar thing. That's where their weather bureau (Department of Meteorology and Hydrology Complex) is located.
And most of all, my map said, at this point I was nearest to the Mekong River. Where is that river? At left, only about a hundred meters behind that block with Wat Tai Yai.
So what? Well, the Mekong River at that area is the boundary of Laos and Thailand. Yeah, pag tumawid ka sa ilog (dyan sa banda dyan sa kaliwa), nasa Thailand ka na!
In fact, there are several bridge crossings for that. The first one is here in Vientiane, not just for cars, there is also a railroad in the middle of that bridge. Pero wala dyan sa kaliwa ha?! It is somewhere pabalik (southeast), mga 30 kms pa from this place.
Hep hep, wait, teka lang! Di ba papunta ako ng Thailand? Ba't di nalang tumawid sa mga tulay na 'yon? How I wish! Kaso, Vientiane is mga 700kms yata to Bangkok eh!
Kung land trip, parang Cubao to Catbalogan siguro yan, therefore, mga isang araw? Hiyay! No-time this time! Fly na lang, about 1 hour lang direct Vientiane to Bangkok!
Wattay International Airport
Eto, just about 500 meters more from Wat Tai Yai (previous photo), we veered off the highway (Rue Sethathirat - Luang Prabang Route) entering Vientiane airport's vicinity.
I mused at how they drew those directional arrows. Parang malayo ang domestic!
But in fact it is just one straight line! Look closely, there are two buildings.
Wherever you're going, turn right at this corner, then turn left, and then another left.
I said two buildings (meaning two terminals) in one ground-level straight line. Nice!
See the 4 mini-gables? The first one looks like it's atop the parked dark-gray van. It's labeled Departures; next is Arrivals. How do you know if International or Domestic?
Aw doon sa bubong sa taas! This 1st building says Domestic Terminal written in Lao only. The farther 2nd building has English translation that says International Terminal!
Can you see them? Doon sa bubong nga, yung me makukulay na watawat!
Okay, we reached International Departures and the driver emptied me out his car!
I stood a while on the covered walkway/foyer of the International Terminal watching how things glide by. In short usisero talaga! My verdict: parang s'atin din ang scenes!
Actually, I didn't enter immediately due to an important ritual that I needed to do!
Alams na, smoking break, but also a chance for me to watch & learn! Look, covered walkways have ashtrays and trashbins. And few non-passengers are loitering around.
Hindi yata uso sa kanila yung isang barangay ang naghahatid. Nice!
Let's enter this airport and depart.
In my next story, that is!
But and well, as usual, let's do this blow-by-blow, starting from when I left Ibis Hotel in Vientiane, all the way to when I arrived at Holiday Inn Silom in Bangkok. Blog series uli!
Bye Nam Phou!
I left the hotel at 1156H going to the airport. Eyes wide open and alert for the views, because I didn't have much time to roam this city, being here for less than 24 hours!
My flight was 1430H, was I early or late? Just enough! Besides, hotel check-out time nowadays is 1200H right? Aw, Ibis gave me a free hotel-to-airport transfer at 1200H.
Go!
Black Stupa
Historical attraction spotted - that's the Black Stupa or That Dam. Unfortuantely, we were turning left (westward direction) at this corner, for this is the way to the airport.
Anyway, it's the most intriguing ancient structure in Laos (or probably even the whole world), because 1) it has no real recorded history, or no one is attempting to do so, as to its date and reason for being erected; 2) it's old & ugly AND curated to remain so!
Yet, that's what makes it significant and worth a peek for tourists. Like the Ho Phra Keo, that is yet another example of their "Laos versus Thailand" historical narrative!
Through the years, the 'spiritual legends' and the 'political overtones' get intertwined so that the prevailing word-of-mouth keeps changing. Nakakalito na nakakabagabag!
On the one hand, some of my reliable sources say: "there is a 7-headed Naga (snake) living in there, and it's a (proven) spiritual protector of not just Vientiane but all of Laos".
They say: "the Naga protected Laos from the attack of Siam (Thailand) in 1827~1828".
They further say: "no one dares touch (repair) the stupa in fear of waking up the Naga"!
On the other hand, some of my other reliable sources say: "that stupa was a spiritual center; it contained treasures (offerings) and it was gilded in gold. It was ransacked and stripped of the gold by Siam Army in 1827~1828; some of those are now in Thai Wats".
They further say: "no one dares touch (repair) the stupa, to remember Siam attrocities"!
Di ba? If you scrutinize the narratives, nag-halohalo na ang mythology, folklore, local legends, actual war history and ambot na kung ano pa! Intriguing, thus worth visiting!
In any case, it is called Black Stupa because of not being golden like others.
Tara let's move on.., papuntang airport tayo hahaha!
Lao Plaza Hotel
After just one corner, probably 200 meters, I saw this: The Lao Plaza Hotel:
A real luxury hotel, yet cheaper than many 'pipitsugin hotels' in our country. You can see prices online. In fact, for the price, it's definitely better than where I stayed. Yes.
It was on my list. Kinailangan ko lang malapit ang tulugan sa yugyugan kagabi eh!
Lao Plaza Hotel is a choice of many because it's near the center - eh kabilang block lang yan (mga 200 meters) ng Nam Phou Park. Katabi pa nya ang National Museum!
Sa likod is the National Stadium. Sa harap (left of picture above, as in across the road I was passing by) is the National Cultural Hall - diyan nag speech si Obama last 2016!
That cultural hall is like a PICC or CCP natin. That is where most ASEAN 2016 events happened. Sorry tayo walang pictures. Nasa kaliwa eh and my car was running fast.
Baka sabihin ng driver sya ang kinokodakan ko!
One thing funny about Lao Plaza Hotel is: it is surrounded by many smaller hotels! I know because I quickly researched on that before I came to max-out my stay. As in!
Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn & Suites
Okay. Just a kilometer onwards, I got this "very late" picture. Mabilis nga kasi kami!
I said "very late picture" because... I wasn't even aiming to shoot Crowne Plaza yet! I was supposed to be taking a picture of Holiday Inn & Suites. Where's that? At right!
Yes, I was too late because Mr. Driver was rather fast hahaha.
Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, both IHG hotels, stand together with a modern front facade. Crowne came last year (2017), and Holiday Inn, I'm not sure if already open.
It's already bannered on their website, but the earliest available bookings I saw were for October 2019. However, and in any case hehe, both didn't win me over this time!
Why? Because I needed nga to be steps away from where I party (dahil minsan lang tayo mag-lasheng)! Eh Nam Phou District ang event ko, so I stayed at Ibis Nam Phu!
Now now.., a 'stronger' reason I didn't get an IHG hotel was: sayang ang points!
Eh I knew I was staying for less than 24hours. If I stayed at an IHG facility, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy my benefits as club member. Better to use them elsewhere!
I actually used some (All Accor) points at Ibis. But at least I was at Nam Phou.
Ayan, nagka-lesson learned pa tuloy. Managing your membership points wisely!
Chao Fa Ngum Park
Ah, across both hotels on my left side of the road was the back garden of Somerset Hotel, facing south to Setthathirath Road and the Mekong. Next to Somerset is this:
Ikaw ba maging front seat on a fast-moving vehicle, then the park suddenly appears on your left eh kakatapos mo lang mag-picture ng Crowne Plaza sa kanan. Mahirap!
I had to quickly twist & turn for the shot - that's via the window behind the driver. Da!
Who was Fa Ngum anyway? He was the founder of the Kingdom of Lan Xang.
Why was that park significant to me? Well, it was to be my early-morning or evening walking/strolling area, had I chosen to stay at any of these hotels near or around it!
O di ba? Prepared kahit mabilisan lang tiningnan during booking of flights!
Mercure Hotel Vientiane
But I had to do another lightning-fast twist & turn back to my right side view for this:
Not sure if I'll regret not having stayed at that one on this trip. Y'know, I have insider buzz (aba malakas ang marites sa tourism oy!) that it's 'folding' very soon as Mercure.
Ang chika, natalo daw yan ng mga bagong hotel, like Crowne Plaza that just opened plus 'more coming' like Holiday Inn (opening 2019 daw, na 01January2019 na bukas)!
Anyway, I like the 'form' of that Mercure Hotel. More of 'sprawling' than 'towering' (it's just 4 storeys but a 4-star hotel). Plus, the location (or structure?) is likely historical!
Oy, it was already a building in the 1950s (di ko alam if iyan pa rin yan, di naman yata); it became a Belvedere Hotel (1992); then a Novotel (1995); then a Mercure in 2011!
Industry insiders say it will still be a hotel in 2019, by yet another name and owner!
Aliw! Just like planes, they change hands - sana sa tao ganun din hehehe!
Christians in Laos
Two minutes on (probably still less than a kilometer), we passed by this church:
The technical brain said masyadong malapit (since it's a tall building of 3 or 4 floors). I waited 2 more seconds for the car to go farther; twisted and turned again, for this:
Biggest? Yes, among Christians in Laos at about 200,000 or less.
Catholics count to about 100,000 or less. Together - plus the smaller denominations like Adventists etc., they (Christians) comprise to about 1.7% of the Lao population.
Another thing... yes, this is "one-scene-two-stories"! Look at the 2 photos above again.
Songthaew: like a jeep
That vehicle on foreground is called a Songthaew (ສອງແຖວ) [pronounced song-tao]. The name (and vehicle-type setup/construction) is originally Thai. It is a pickup truck!
For all intents and purposes, it functions like our Philippine Jeep". But a Songthaew is literally "a converted pickup truck", not like our Sarao, or Malagueña, or Almazora.
How does a songthaew differ from our jeep? It's smaller, narrower, shorter and the floor is generally higher from the ground, because that's how pickup trucks are made.
Ito gusto ko: old or new, a songthaew will always have a buzzer (or bell) installed on the ceiling, for riders to press when they want to get off. It's a "no-go" item for them.
I was told a driver will pull his songthaew out of service if that buzzer is broken, and that, is the biggest difference with our jeeps! It's a pickup truck kasi, hiwalay ang ulo sa katawan, so it's hard for a driver to hear sounds from his passengers at the back.
In Laos, hindi uso (dahil di ka rin naman maririnig) ang "para"; "lugar lang"; "diri lang"; "dida la"; "idiay lang"; "keti mu" kahit kumatok ka pa, magtititili o maglupasay. Buzzer!
Note: walang "para dyan sa side"; wala rin kumakatok o sumisipol hahaha! Buzzer!
Aw, they don't call it buzzer. They say bell ກະດິ່ງ [ka-ding] - kahit ang tunog eh "bzzz"!
Okay tama na yan.
Westernized Modernization
I was smilingly appreciating their houses and buildings along this main road. This is their capital city, but it felt like I was in some of our provincial cities. Nang biglang...
So okay, in fairness, Vientiane, all of Laos actually, just opened to the outside world in the '90s, yet they're catching up in terms of structures, activities - pati yata traffic eh!
That Marina thing is just about 500 meters from the Nakham Church.
Skylab: 3-wheeled and urban
Then we overtook this thing called Skylab (ສະກາຍແລັບ) [pronounced sa-kai-laeb]!
Why and How? Ah, a Tuktuk (the original/legacy units of Bangkok, at least) were made out of the factories - engine, body, wheels and everything-about-it as Tuktuk. Whole!
The tuktuk is not a motorbike na dinugtungan ng kung anu-ano. It's whole.
For us passengers, the most noticeable feature of a tuktuk is "we're front-facing". In a Skylab, seats are on the side, parang sa jeep natin, or parang sa Songthaew above.
Of course it's also not the same as our Skylab (katig) in Mindanao (Comval, Surigao, Agusan, etc) since our version is just two-wheeled or habal-habal. Mas kuyaw ta oi!
Lastly, their Skylabs are on city streets, parang tricycle natin ang gamit.
Jumbo: not a hotdog; not a B747
Now children, there's a newer variant of Skylab called a Jumbo (ຈຳໂບ້) [cham-bo]. It is bigger (as the name implies) than the Skylab. Otherwise, they're 'generally' the same.
On the technical side... yes, me ganun tayo.., imagine a motorcycle; palakulin mo sa gitna; yung harapan ng motor, yun ang magiging harapan ng Skylab at Jumbo. Yung likuran, di ko alam inaano nila yun! Basta si harapan, kakabitan ng parang sa kalesa.
So.., ang ending, 3 wheeler vehicle na para nga naman tuktuk. Ganun as in like that!
I am still not sure (still asking around) if the engine of a Jumbo is bigger or of higher capacity than that of a Skylab. The obvious thing: it is bigger in size and load factor.
Oh, the Jumbos and Skylabs of Vientiane are different from Calbayog's "Center Car" (or Center Cab) like we've seen here and here. In Samar, they don't chop-off the rear portion of the motorcycle. It is still there (inside, and acting as support of) the cab.
So, the Center Car is technically a 4-wheeler. The Skylab and Jumbo, 3-wheelers!
*Update 2025 Here is an AI rendition of the 3 vehicles: Songthaew, Jumbo and Skylab.
And by the way too, according to their traffic laws (yes pati yun sinilip ko tuloy): the Skylab "may only have up to 9 passengers". So if its capacity is higher, Jumbo na yun!
Naaliw ako sa sightings, therefore topic na ito!
Anyway...
Near the airport
A minute onwards (my reflexes were late again), we passed by a Honda Showroom & Service Center at right for both cars and bikes. Not in picture, lagpas na! But it's big.
How did I know that? Nakita ko ang logo ng Honda kagabi when I arrived!
Things of note in that picture: that vehicle in front of us is a Songthaew; that man at right is maybe employee of the parang 'munisipyo' sa kanan (Sikhottabong District).
The traditional roofs at left are the buildings of Wat Tai Yai.
That 'ball' up in the distance? Parang sa atin din, a doppler radar thing. That's where their weather bureau (Department of Meteorology and Hydrology Complex) is located.
And most of all, my map said, at this point I was nearest to the Mekong River. Where is that river? At left, only about a hundred meters behind that block with Wat Tai Yai.
So what? Well, the Mekong River at that area is the boundary of Laos and Thailand. Yeah, pag tumawid ka sa ilog (dyan sa banda dyan sa kaliwa), nasa Thailand ka na!
In fact, there are several bridge crossings for that. The first one is here in Vientiane, not just for cars, there is also a railroad in the middle of that bridge. Pero wala dyan sa kaliwa ha?! It is somewhere pabalik (southeast), mga 30 kms pa from this place.
Hep hep, wait, teka lang! Di ba papunta ako ng Thailand? Ba't di nalang tumawid sa mga tulay na 'yon? How I wish! Kaso, Vientiane is mga 700kms yata to Bangkok eh!
Kung land trip, parang Cubao to Catbalogan siguro yan, therefore, mga isang araw? Hiyay! No-time this time! Fly na lang, about 1 hour lang direct Vientiane to Bangkok!
Wattay International Airport
Eto, just about 500 meters more from Wat Tai Yai (previous photo), we veered off the highway (Rue Sethathirat - Luang Prabang Route) entering Vientiane airport's vicinity.
But in fact it is just one straight line! Look closely, there are two buildings.
I said two buildings (meaning two terminals) in one ground-level straight line. Nice!
Aw doon sa bubong sa taas! This 1st building says Domestic Terminal written in Lao only. The farther 2nd building has English translation that says International Terminal!
Can you see them? Doon sa bubong nga, yung me makukulay na watawat!
Okay, we reached International Departures and the driver emptied me out his car!
Actually, I didn't enter immediately due to an important ritual that I needed to do!
Hindi yata uso sa kanila yung isang barangay ang naghahatid. Nice!
Let's enter this airport and depart.
In my next story, that is!
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