Yes, Lisa, the knock off of the Arc d'Triomphe, still stands prominently in Vientiane. Called Patuxay, it was built in 1962, allegedly with funds the US gave Laos to build an airport. The grounds around it have been developed into a lovely park since I was here five years ago. Bucharest has one , too.
Long dresses still prevail in Laos. Women wear the beautiful woven skirts. Here in the center of town western styles are seen more.
Asian traffic maneuvers: A driver wanting to make a left turn onto a street with steady oncoming traffic executes a creeping wedge. By gradually pulling onto the street far enough that the traffic detours around behind them they are able to complete the turn. Tricky to remember right and left. Thailand drives on the left and Laos drives on the right. Which reminds me of the time the Swede's switched their country from driving on the left to driving on the right. The Swede's are a cautious people so they decided to ease into the change by having all trucks make the switch a week before cars did. Did you know that there is an Scandinavian bakery in Vientiane. The founder perhaps got out of Sweden before the traffic switch!
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