Eating and strolling in Vientiane

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We got up on the morning of the 29th and headed to the Thailand/Laos border to journey over the Friendship Bridge with a German couple. Our only hold-up while crossing was that our Thai visa had been stamped for one instead of 2 months which the border control quickly realized. If they weren't understanding they could've made us pay 500 baht per day! This would've been over $100 dollars. By the time we arrived in Vientiane the sun was high in the sky and we were eager to find a guest house. We quickly realized that many other travelers had just arrived and were also seaching for an affordable, clean place. We spent about 2 hours on the search. Lodging in Vientiane is quite a bit more expensive than in Thailand and we caved in and chose to stay at the Phonesaventh. It was one of the most expensive places we've stayed, but I used my negotiating skills and was able to get the price down a bit. We were on the fourth floor in a huge room with a balcony. We had a fridge and were able to buy some groceries.

As the town is very French we got delicious treats and were able to make sandwiches and enjoyed a bottle of wine while watching life down below. The town is beautiful and the food is amazing. We ate at lovely riverside restaurants watching the sun set and small cafes with fantastic coffee and pasteries.
As we do in most towns we got a motorbike and went searching for the local waterfalls. Again we found that the dry season is not a good time for this venture. But the ride was a blast-if a bit dusty and jammed with traffic and we enjoyed walking around the park. After 2 nights in our nice room we went back to being cheap and over the next few days met many other travellers and shared stories. The Pratuxai Monument in Vientiane is supposed to be like the Arc de' Triomphe in Paris but is really a somewhat unattractive cement structure with a lovely park. We visited some wats but overall the food and people watching were our favorite activies in the city. Our last evening we walked down the shore of the mighty Mekong and along with many tourists and Lao watched the sun slowly set in a pink and red light show. We walked back up to a restaurant full of locals and ate a dinner that Alex enjoyed but our food was so spicy that my throat hurt for about an hour afterwards and I probably drank 3 bottles of water. As we travel I'm getting tougher but I still can't handle the peppers and sauce they locals bathe their food in.
Many people say Vientiane is a place to pass through but we certainly found it to be a lovely place.

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Comments

[Roger Heine]

Keep on, keeping on!
Hello Alex and Yuliya. The French atmosphere must have been a nice change. Have you gone into Vietnam at this point? I've heard it's turned into a nice place for travelers. My motorcycle battery went dead, so I'm getting a charger and see if I can get Layla going again. It's 55 degrees here and a bit cold. Rain is coming in tommorow. Love you both and be safe. Dad