Laos - Day 2

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Checked out of Orchid and walked over to Lovan Guesthouse on Phnom Penh Road. Breakfast at Croissant d’Or, very good. Walked to Wat Sisaket, then to Haw Pha Kaew. Lunch at Talat Sao (morning market), had paté sandwiches on baguettes and beer. Walked around some, checked out the Day Inn Hotel and Lao Plaza Hotel, Vientiane’s fanciest hotels. Spent a couple hours at the National Museum, which was actually quite fascinating—displays ranged from natural history, to Lao culture, colonial rule, the wars, much communist propaganda, and a display case full of confiscated drugs (Felicia and I disagree as to whether or not they are real). Stopped in at Carol Cassidy Lao Textiles, and got a tour of the workshop where women weave the textiles on looms. Pretty interesting, the woman who showed us around told us that only one person works on a piece of cloth from start to finish because if more than one person works on it, you can see the variations. Walked to the riverside for a beer and tam kuay tani (banana flowers and eggplant salad). It’s dry season, so we walked down to the Mekong river bed, which was like a giant beach. Dipped our feet into the water of the Mekong and picked up some river stones. Headed back to the guesthouse to wash off our feet. Walked around for a while to look for the night market. I think we found it but it looked like just a row of stores that were open in the evening. Walked to Nam Phou fountain to check out the restaurants. Ate at Le Provençal—a couple of CDC folks were at the table next to us, but we didn’t talk to them. Missed opportunity! More wine at Khop Chai Deu. Mosquitoes were out—should’ve worn pants.

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