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Vientiane – 23 to 25 June 2011 – Thursday to Saturday Back in Vientiane we decided to stay in the city for our last few days in Laos. The first night we stayed in a guesthouse, but it was rather noisy and smelly so we moved to a slightly more expensive hotel. We had a comfortable bed, good air con, a swimming pool, plus a great cocktail bar and restaurant. Yep, we had gone soft after departing the village for Luang Prabang, but my back thanked me for it.
The Moon restaurant on the Mekong Sai collected us and took us to dinner at a great restaurant on the banks of the Mekong River. At first I wondered where he was taking us as we drove down a narrow, muddy, deserted lane that appeared to nowhere. Then the lane opened onto the car park of this restaurant on the banks of the river. The place had great views of the Mekong, good food and plenty of Beer Laos. How lucky we were to have local friends to take us to these places, we never would have found it on our own. Our friends from the village plus the
folks from Ban Hom joined us for dinner.
That evening we met Sai’s cousin, VV, who spoke Lao and English with a French accent. She was born and raised in Grenoble, works in Bangkok and was in Laos visiting her Grandmother while doing a visa run from Thailand. VV was a lot of fun, she obviously has a knack for languages, and she is fluent in French, English, Laos, Tai and Mandarin. Not bad for a twenty two year old.
The visa run is very common for people living and working in Thailand. They are often only given a three month visa while they await a work permit and have to leave the country and re-enter every three months. Vientiane is one of the most popular places to visit when doing the visa run as it is easy to get to form Bangkok and other major Thai cities.
After our dinner we went to a night club/karaoke bar. We spent the night dancing, singing and drinking until about 2am. I must admit that Laos is on of the only countries where a 50 year old does not feel out pf place in a night club, the other
patrons covered a wide age range so I felt comfortable to be there. We had a fun night singing more Thai love songs and Lao folk songs.
I could easily have skipped the headache the next morning!
Tong the shop assistant We came across a lot of folks named Ting or Tong, obviously very popular Lao names. Tong the shop assistant got talking to us while we browsed in the shop she works in. We talked about the differences between Australia and Laos, lifestyles, attitudes and work.
She told us that she earns US$175 per month, working a 12 hour day for 7 days a week. With this money she pays rent, food and then sends the majority of it back to her parents who live in a province north of the city. Her parents are rice farmers.
Tong told us that she had learnt some English at School and then more while training to be a cook in Luang Prabang. She lived, studied and worked there for two years. While studying full time she worked 6 days a week, from 3pm to mid-night, in a restaurant owned by a European guy. In return she
farewell dinner
outdoor kitchenwas paid US$75 per month. She quit this job when the owner kept abusing her when things went wrong because of his laziness. She said the instance that made her finally leave was when he got very aggressive and abusive when the restaurant ran out of sticky rice, it was some how her fault despite the fact she had been telling him he should buy more rice for 4 days.
She told us she would prefer to live close to her family, but there was no work there so she had to stay in the city. She hoped one day to own her own business and to help her parents more.
A few beers with the working girls/boys There was a big storm and the power was out in our part of the city. We took a walk because there was not much point sitting in a blacked out hotel room. We found a street side bar that had some lighting and ordered some beers. As the rain tumbled down a few working girls and a lady-boy asked if they could sit with us out of the rain. We shared a few beers and talked about life
farewell dinner
outdoor kitchen in the big city.
They showed us photos of their falang boyfriends and told us some of their hopes and dreams. No matter what we may think of their profession they are all just working for a better life in whatever way they can.
Coleur d’Asie Directly across from our hotel was a shop called Coleur d’Asie, which sold designer silk clothing, craft and home wares. The owner, Viviane, is a very interesting and extremely talented person. She has sold her clothes in shop such as the Galeries Lafayette in Paris. We could not help spend a lot of time admiring her work and talking with her about life in Laos. She has been living in Vientiane for 18 years and originally comes from Aix en Provence.
Yet another reason to revisit this beautiful country!
Farewell Dinner On our final night in Laos we went shopping with our friends at a food market not far form the village in preparation for a farewell dinner. You could not get any fresher ingredients anywhere in the world. We bought lots of Mekong River fish, snails, vegetables, etc.
The food was prepared in the outdoor kitchen
at Sai’s mothers place. It was great to watch them get in and prepare and cook together. We had a great meal and got to say a fitting farewell to many of the family and friends we had met. We would miss them all very much. They made our stay so enjoyable and helped us get an insight into their culture that would not have been possible without them.
Farewell – By Gone Aunty, Sai, Suzy and some friends say us off at the airport, we shared one more Beer Laos before departing. We said our heartfelt thanks to Sai and Aunty – we were so touched by their friendship and hospitality – see you again soon (by gone).
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