Vientiane

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After our short stay in backpackers paradise we set off for the capital city to see a few sights, but also more importantly to visit the Vietnamese embassy and see if they'd give us a tourist visa (except for a few nationalities, you can't get one on the border). As we've grown accustomed to dangerous and uncomfortable forms of transport, we decided that it would be fun to go there in the back of a pick-up truck. They are often used to ferry locals round for a small fee. We jumped in the first one that passed: it was pretty full so for the first part of the journey we were literally sitting on the back of it, with our legs outside. Fortunately some locals got off after a while leaving us more 'comfortable' seats on the two benches inside which was safer but not as exciting.

Reaching Vientiane four hours later, we were of course dropped 6km out of the city at a point not on any of our maps. We had no choice but to jump in a communal tuk-tuk that was ferrying people to the city centre, being dropped off at a site with no land marks and finding ourselves once again lost in a totally new city. Thankfully, the Laos government had invested in street signs and we were soon able to find our location and set off on the usual hunt for accommodation.

As we walked passed the stadium, it suddenly hit us. We'd been seeing people watching athletic events on TV all over Laos which we hadn't taken much notice of but it turns out Vientiane were hosting the 'SEA Games' (south east Asia's commonwealth games) and we'd stumbled right into the middle of it, searching for cheap accommodation. Needless to say that we had some difficulty as many people from neighbouring countries had come to watch the games. After wandering around in the 30 degree heat with our big backpacks, we tried a backpacker place called 'sabidee' which one online reviewer (we saw later) had stated only 'free bedbugs'. The rather unfriendly lady at reception told us she only had a triple room available on the top floor and we resigned ourselves to our fate as we looked at the grubby room in this filthy hostel. At least we could get out of the heat and have a shower before looking for better place to stay for the next night.

The only thing we desired - a shower - was taken away from us as I looked around and realised that two of the three communal showers didn't work and the third only had cold water. Sitting in our depressing room, we decided the best thing to do was go out and try and book somewhere else for tomorrow night. We went to another place nearby and the friendly guy on reception told us he had two rooms available tonight and that we could look at both. They were fantastic- spotlessly clean with hot shower ensuite, TV, fresh sheets and air conditioning. It was beautiful. At this point faced with the prospect of returning to the room from hell, I knew what I had to do. I left Stacey to check in and headed up to our crappy room in the other hotel, packed up both big backpacks and carried them downstairs, straight past reception and outside to freedom feeling energised by the thought of escape from bedbug hell. Thankfully we hadn't paid in advance and I simply dropped the key on the reception desk and left without a word from the woman sitting there. As I walked into our new room and the aircon hit me, it felt like paradise and all for only and extra £1.90 a night - totally worth it for the step up from misery to comfort.

There isn't a lot to see in the city itself. Although the Mekong flows through it, it is a dirty brown colour and the riverside is a huge sand bank being quarried and the shoreline is littered with construction sites. The few sights of interest include a smaller version of the arc-de-triumph, constructed in the 20's with left over concrete donated by America to build an airport. However, the funding ran out so it remains undecorated and plain on most of the surface. There are several wats in the city although most are modern thanks to the many invasions of Laos over the centuries and the subsequent destruction of parts of the city. Having said that, there is a bustling morning market selling the usual fresh produce and fabrics. The best thing about our visit though has to be the buzzing vibe created by the locals thanks to the SEA games. Shops and restaurants showing the games attract crowds of locals and even the street vendors have tiny portable TVs on their carts so as not to miss any of the action. Any time that team Laos scores a goal or wins an event, the streets erupted with shouts and cheers.

One of the best attractions that we visited on our second full day was Buddha park, 24km from the city. We jumped on a local bus that was headed in the right direction. Unfortunately, unknown to us, it was also headed to the 'friendship bridge' on the Thai-Laos border and when we saw the bus turn off and head for Thai immigration, we panicked as we thought we were heading back to Thailand against our will (without us having our passports). Thankfully, our worst fears were avoided as it stopped just short of the bridge to chuck off some passengers before turning around and heading in the right direction towards Buddha park. The park itself is a collection of random Buddhist and Hindu sculptures which was actually really interesting as it was a change to see the Buddha doing anything other than sitting meditating. It was well worth the 40p entry fee and the near heart attack it getting there.

One of the final highlights - a necessary evil that I always hate - is the task of getting my haircut. Finding somewhere can be difficult as many locals will prefer DIY haircuts to save money but thankfully it wasn't too much of a problem this time. Of course, the vocation of hairdressing rarely goes hand it hand with linguistic training so the main ordeal was in trying to ascertain a price and then trying to describe how to cut it, avoiding mullets, perms and other styles that may be popular with locals but would leave me with the need to wear a hat until it grows out. I managed to convey 'short' and then couldn't do much but sit in the chair and watch in the mirror as it began to unfold. Thankfully it turned out fine and stepping outside into the searing heat was more bearable as a result. One of the best things that I found both here and in Nepal was that a free cup of tea comes as part of the service which I'll be suggesting to my barber back home.

After the sightseeing and armed with a pair of Vietnamese visas, we booked passage on a bus to Hanoi which would leave in the evening and arrive somewhere in the region of 24hours later for $20 each. Of course, since we checkout time was at midday, we had five hours to kill before the minibus came to shuttle us to the bus station. Having exhausted most attractions, we just sat back and watched the SEA games.

The minibus collected us a little later than expected and we made it two thirds of the way to the bus station before the driver got a call and had to turn around because he'd forgotten to collect two people. As the bus to Hanoi was supposed to leave at 6:30, we had less than half an hour to turn around and then come back again so the ride was a little tense. In the end, the driver did the round trip in 25 minutes and we climbed onto a bus bound for Hanoi. Unfortunately, the 6:30 departure was a blatant lie and we sat there until nearer to 8:30pm before it finally left. On the upside, the bus was in a different league of comfort to our crossing from India to Nepal with seat padding and even some leg room, and we were unexpectedly treated to a few hours sleep despite the Vietnamese pop music that was being played at full volume. The bus pulled in to a motel at about 2am. The driver got off and slept there, the passengers stayed on the bus.

Sunrise came around 6am and we set off for the border. The climb up into the hills was misty and rainy but thankfully the bus was warm and they even provided fleecy blankets. The border crossing was a little more stressful as we weren't quite sure what as going on and no one else on the bus spoke any English. The bus was sat in a queue for about an hour and halfway through we decided we'd better go and investigate. It was a good thing too as we had to wait for an exit stamp from the Laos officials and I'm pretty sure the bus wouldn't have waited for us if we hadn't completed the process by the time it got through the traffic.

A few hundred meters later the confusion was repeated as we disembarked and tried to figure out Vietnamese immigration. Just as we'd completed the paperwork and handed over our passports, the driver ran over looking very tense and indicated that we had to take our big bags off the bus for some reason and walk them over the threshold into Vietnam. Not wanting to let our passports out of sight, Stacey stayed to supervise and I ran to the bus and carried both bags out into the rain and headed back to immigration. Our passports were returned eventually and we walked across the border before getting back onto the bus. We sat back down ready to relax after the mad and confused rush around but a couple of minutes later, we noticed that one of the small backpacks that was tucked under one of the seats was gone. Heart rate suddenly doubling, I scrambled to the front of the bus, passed the other passengers who had just gotten back onto to see the driver sitting outside, holding three or four small backpacks - one of which was ours. I could happily have throttled him for the near heart attack he caused me but decided that murdering a citizen in a communist country wasn't the best start I could make so instead just got back on the bus, now in possession of all four bags before setting off again through the mist and rain. If ever there was a reason to take up smoking it would be this border crossing.

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Comments

[Marilyn Whitington]

Thinking of You
Hi there. Just to say been thinking of you lots over Christmas and we all send our love to you both, especially from Nan too. We're having a good time but so much flu/bugs/throat things around - hope you're staying clear. Great to hear about your exploits, the good and the difficult! Would love to know what you're eating Stacey in picture 20. Lots and lots of love to you both, Auntie Marilyn, Uncle Geoff, Kerry, Melanie and Nan xxxxxxxxxx

[ByeByeWhitleyBay]

food
I think it was a Laos interpretation of Pad Thai with pork