Va Va Vientiane

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We've now arrived in Vientiane, the capital of Laos... or is it France? So far we've seen a chateau and a long boulevard complete with Arc de Triomphe at the end (although the driving would put the French to shame... call the Peripherique fast? Hah.) We've eaten baguettes, drank wine, seen a mean game of petanque being bitterly contested and heard at least 3 people say "Bouff". Starting to wonder if we could have hopped across the channel and saved ourselves a pretty penny or two!!

However, just when you start to think the French have never actually relinquished their colonies and are just being very very sneaky, you see something that is incredibly Lao. Went on a walking tour this morning and saw some incredible temples. One contains over 6800 images of buddha. Not that we checked this fact. Things are very relaxed here, lots of bars along the Mekong river and the people are generally very smiley (though that may be at Lucie's hat).

However, to recap our last few days for your reading pleasure... Our remaining time in Luang Prabang was fab. We settled nicely into evening cocktails before dinner and gentle strolls around the town. On the day before we left we jumped in a bus to take us to the big waterfall near town. After a bone shaking hour long journey we were released, or rather, we got out of the bus at Kuang Si. The falls were beautiful, lots of pools to swim in and a path going right to the top. It was great to be able to see a waterfall from above, not something we've ever done before! Swimming was amazing - we'd managed to leave early in the morning, while all the other tours left in the afternoon, so we had an entire pool to ourselves. The water was turquoise, the log in the middle just right for sitting and pretending not to be knackered, and the water consistency absolutely perfect for getting through two layers of plastic bags and one wallet...

The problem with carrying about 30 quid in kip is the sheer number of notes you have on you at any time. Drying out over one hundred bills using only a small towel took some doing and invoked no inconsiderable hilarity in passing tourists. Money laundering has taken on a new meaning for us...

We left LP bright and early in the morning to head for our Special VIP bus (AC, own bathroom, lunch inlcuded.. winner, we thought) to Vientiane. Oh ho, we had said to ourselves. We will learn from our errors. No more jammed in, soaking wet pick-up trucks for us - it sooo doesn't go with our Flashpacker status.

Hmm. Special VIP seems to be a Lao joke and we were the unsuspecting punchline:

* Air conditioning = open a window (very small windows, as it's meant to have an air conditioning unit). In the mid afternoon, the sun beating down on our moving sardine tin made the inside temperature 40 degrees C. Outside was actaully cooler!!
* Lunch = cold rice, bone and gristle and hot stock. On careful, but subtle inspection, only one person ate his lunch. The driver. Who seemed to be able to purchase his from a different vendor...
* 8 hour journey, door to door = 10 hours. A loooooong 10 hours. With Americans in front of us taking photos, literally every 5-10 seconds of the view. Surprising how that can start to grate on your nerves. But at least we only saw him take them, it's the relatives back home we feel sorry for...
* Toilet = unmentionable.
* Driver = suicidal.

Never have we been so hot, so uncomfortable, for such a sustained period of time. For those aware of the previous incidents I can say only this - the Swansea-Cork ferry was nice in comparison...

On the positive side, the scenery was stunning. We wound our way up and down various mountains and saw Laos from above the cloudline. Very picturesque indeed during the early morning light.

Fun as it is to describe our occasional 'more trying' experiences (often involving buses it would seem), we're having an amazing time seeing the sights, eating and drinking and generally not being at work!! Oh and did we mention it's about 30 degrees here? Hee hee hee.

Love to all,
Lucie and Dave
xxx

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Comments

[Sarah R]

Your adventures provide a good bit of light reading at lunchtime! Sounds like you're having a great time, but please stop mentioning the weather - you're making me very jealous. It's 2.30pm in London and it is almost dark already, not helped by the massive black clouds above us. Looking forward to the next edition...

[Sam]

There was nothing wrong with the Swansea Cork Ferry!! Sounds like you're having fun although I don't envy your sleeping arrangements. Carole and Claire are out of Stricley Come Dancing and you're missing a treat!