Vientiane

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And onwards to Vientiane.

It’s quite a culture shock to return to a big city after the villages and market towns of rural Laos. We’re not talking London or New York here but some differences are immediately apparent. There is more traffic and a fair number of private cars: elsewhere it’s been mostly vans, tractors, jeeps and mopeds. The driving is more aggressive – OK, not Rome, but there are some jams and even one or two sets of traffic lights!

Last time I visited, I remember arriving late in the evening and finding that the city had closed for the night. It was 9 p.m. after all. Keith and I eventually found a grocery store and dined on crisps, chocolate and beer! This time, Phonsy took us to a new restaurant which was 10 minutes walk from our “riverside” hotel. The walk highlighted a few more differences: a few tacky souvenir stalls and impromptu kerb side restaurants. Not unlike what you’d find in Bangkok! The restaurant was brand new, deserted and quite pricey. I suspect a little bit of collusion because the owner (Italian) also works for the same tour company as Phonsy. Putting my scepticism aside, the food was very nice but Franco will certainly need some more customers if his enterprise is to survive!

Next morning, a half day tour of the town to see the limited sights (which I’d seen before!). The French built a slightly smaller replica of the Arc de Triomphe which was then finished off / taken over by the locals when the French scooted back to Paris. Beyond that, I couldn’t raise much enthusiasm for the temples although I know they’re both old and impressive. Suffering a bit from temple fatigue……. In the afternoon three of us visited the national museum which was small but interesting. You get a flavour of the troubled history and the mindset by reading the exhibit captions. The French are referred to as “colonialists”, the Americans as “imperialist aggressors” and the Thai as “Siamese marauders”. They were all quite blatant invasions of one form or another – if we could travel forwards in time by 100 years, I wonder of there would be mention of the “cunning Chinese”? On our way back to the hotel we just happened to stop in a café/bar and were forced to drink some long, cool gin based cocktails. It’s a hard life being on holiday.
Back to reality in the evening when we visited Makphet restaurant. I believe this is partnered with the more famous “Friends” in Phnom Penh which has the same mission of training street kids and orphans. But the real bonus is the fantastic friendly service and the truly excellent food. Unusually for our travels so far, the clientele was almost 100% Western but their success is well deserved. I feel a TripAdvisor review coming on - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293950-d1034445-Reviews-Makphet_Restaurant-Vientiane.html.

A final note on Vientiane: our hotel was called “Mekong View” and indeed there was – off in the distance. Not the hotel’s fault I have to say: I suspect the water flow is being reduced by the number of dams the Chinese are building on “their” stretch of the river. Seems like they’ll get their hydro-electricity regardless of the consequences for anyone downstream.

Next morning an early (and boy, do I mean early) flight South to Pakse. No breakfast at the hotel but a 6 a.m coffee at the airport followed by a greasy, warm sausage roll concoction on Air Laos. Mmm, good job last night’s dinner filled me up!

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