Twenty Bucks

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Vientianne

I shooed the geckos in my room, grabbed one last Mulberry shake before departing Vang Vieng by mini bus (4$) for Vientiane, the quiet Capital of Laos. (There were many familiar faces on the bus including the Dutchie, Mark, and Irish couple Paul and Michele behind)

Not all roads are paved in Vientianne. I followed one muddy road down to the "backpackers" area (there are very few bps - great now I feel like a foreigner again!) , near a Wat to a cafe outside the KPP guesthouse. Met Vaughan a Philipino living in Thailand who recommended KPP, twas 4$ a night (C'mon What capital in the world will give you a roof over your head for 4$?)

Over a clubsandwich, chattin' to Vaughan, we spoted a colourful half dazed figure come up the road. The dazed figure was (Dazed is just a euphemism here, by the way) , Ed, another familiar face from Vang Vieng.

Sural, Twenty Bucks

Next day, over a second club sandwich I get talkin to Sural from London, and we see Vientiane by bike, cycling the long central avenue to the Patxuai ( copy of the Arc de Triumph) and That Lang; the holiest temple in Laos.

That evening Sural introduces me to some friends of his (Jocyeln, Nick, Avish). And I get talkin and jokin (mostly) to very interesting guys that work for the International Labour Organisation in Cambodia Bass (Dutch) and Thom (cambodian who grew up in Austrialia). Thom was a child refugee from the Khemer rouge regime and Bass is an expat who among many other accomplishments has just broken up with Rattana, (thats the Cambodian King's daughter in case you don't know)...We shared a bunch of dishes togehter including Hmok which I can only describe as fish moose..yes, it was foul


'Tis all great craic... but gets a little Bizzare when an Australian by the name of Bob Kennedy departs and hands me twenty dollars for no particular reason....I had spent 15 minutes talkin to him about the world economy and he had told me he is is part of senior managment at a large copper mine Savanaket in the panhandle of Laos....I joke about collecting another 20 from everyone else but instead I pay for some drinks...



Masseours workin' the urinals

A bunch of us (Bryan, Tracy, ausies cathy and Bec) head to the future disco and then on to another late night joint.

Every gone to one of those more up market discos in London and as you pop for a pee you find the facilities are immaculate, there is a suited man offering hot wet towels, deoderant and aftershave? There is a slight twist to this idea in the Future Disco in Vientianne... While mid way through and still at the urinal, I feel someone grabbing my shoulders firmly and knead the flesh in the most soothing fashion. After a few minutes I am beaten with some wooden spoons. an extra spasm of relief sparkle and give the grinning guy a generous tip... Of course after that it was impossible to come back and go in peace.

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