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Published: December 16th 2007
fireworks
(taken by cher Chris)Another day and night in the capitol city, though not exactly by choice... Not realizing that we arrived on a Saturday, the embassies are shut for the weekend, and we need to get our Vietnam visas here. Unfortunately you cannot just pick one up at the border, only from home, Bangkok, Vientiane, etc., so we find ourselves still here, in this monstrous city. Its been good to us though- while expensive for Laos (what?! $4 for a guesthouse??) and lacking the bountiful luxuries that Thailand spoiled us with (like abundant fruits and, well, knowledge of tourism), we passed the time nicely. By that I mean we woke up late, and spent most of the day riverside, reclining on Thai cushions and reading/ sketching. We did meander around town quite a bit, due to the confusion of streets mostly, but excercise nonetheless. Despite the French orientation of Laos, the streets are apparently not in any order or fashion, changing names or remaining unnamed, people are guided by landmarks. I am really excited to get going-- this is supposedly the drudge of Laos-- and the nothern parts are full of karst scenery, waterfalls, caves, diverse ethnic groups, and rivers to float around on....
😊
Last night while updating my blog there were suddenly loud explosions in the street-- car bomb?? But no, simply fireworks to commemorate the Laos 75th year anniversary. I'm not certain on that, but that's what the Lao woman next to me in the street claimed. I'm attaching some pictures (taken by Chris) of the excited children.
Tonight we wandered through a local street market where people came in droves to load up on the most disgusting foods I have ever witnessed. Not only were there piles and piles of the Lao 'delicacy' of raw minced meat with spices, but also dozens of stewed animal parts wrapped in other various animal parts, and the usual assortment of chicken, pork, fish, giblets, and chicken feet roasting on skewers...
I bought some tiny tangelos, Chris munched on a chicken leg-on-stick with bag-of-rice combo, and we sat on the street corner watching Lao community frenzy. Oddly, throughout the night we kept passing by a (possibly mentally-unstable, and possibly homeless) woman with her pantless toddler. She struck us as odd when we crossed the first time-- she was clutching the baby to her breast, clamping him by the head to her chest
and legs dangling, while she reached into her pants for something. Then, time and time again we kept walking by her, the last time witnessing her smoking and spitting at the shops, kicking her legs into the air... We call her the Lizard Queen.
Tomorrow we'll head to the embassy, bribe the officials to complete our visa quickly, and then try to catch a bus to Vang Vieng. This will almost certainly be the last time we'll find decent internet for a few weeks, so to everyone Merry Christmas!!! I hope you are all having a wonderful time feasting on delicious holiday foods and spending time with friends and family. I miss you. Happy merry days and have fun celebrating the New Years!! 😉
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shana
non-member comment
:)
i love hearing about you guys and all your travels... i can imagine everything you're doing! merry christmas to you guys, i miss you both a lot and i'm SO proud and happy to know such beautiful people :).