Advertisement
Published: April 22nd 2008
greetings from a very hot and sultry Vientiane, capital of Laos. i arrived here on friday, leaving my friend, Ekk, at the thai border at nong khai. we planned to come here together, but alas he had to be back in bangkok on tuesday 22nd april for the results if his TB tests. which were.....that he has wait some more!!(until june 10th), while they undertake yet more tests in the laboratory, as they still don't know for sure. so that is all very frustrating, to say the least. that also obviously means our plans to return to the uk have been put on hold for a few months.....
so i am here alone, but not really, as the lao people are a very friendly and relaxed bunch. it is one of the few places where strangers will genuinely smile at you in the street, without there being another agenda....
the temperature is approaching 40 degrees c (in the shade!) most afternoons, ie about 5 degrees hotter than bangkok, which is nearer the sea breezes. its the sort of heat that makes everything such a big deal, but next month the rainy season will start, bringing much relief all round!
CROSSING THE ROAD IN BANGKOK
NEXT TO ONE OF THE MANY ROYAL ARCHWAYS ERECTED FOR THE KING'S 80TH BIRTHDAY LAST DECEMBER. THEY ARE ALL STILL IN SITU, MAYBE WAITING THE THE NEXT ROYAL EVENT.......after my last blog, (to which i have now added 9 more pics), the thai new year (songkran) festivities soon began. it was the new year in less than 4 months, as thailand celebrates the western/international new year on dec 31, as well as chinese new year in february, and its own new year on april 13-15 every year! the whole country seems to grind to a halt for a week, so dont plan on going anywhere or doing anything if you are here then! there was so much water being thrown around in bangkok that for the next two days afterwards there were massive thunderstorms brought on by the sudden increase in humidity. it happens every year apparently! the new year events last 3 days officially. the first day being the last day of the old year (2050), yes thailand is 42 years ahead! the 2nd day is the day between the old and new years. the 3rd day was new years day 2051. all three days follow much the same pattern however, lots of water throwing and smearing of dissolved chalk on people by day and night. at night there were some massive gay asian parties. we
THE ERAWAN SHRINE
SIAM SHOPPING AREA, BANGKOK went to a couple, but werent impressed by the djs choice of music, or the venues. The main gay club in bangkok, dj station, is down a SOI off the main silom road. silom is one of the main venues for songkran, so most people would arrive in the chilly air conditioned club in various states of sobriety, undress and wetness!
obviously only a fool would take a camera to a water throwing festival, so no pics im afraid! just take it from me that it was madness. i could take most of what was thrown at me, in the course of pushing our way through the crowds, apart from recently melted ice! within minutes of alighting from the skytrain station at sala deang, our feet were soaked in the ankle deep water and debris, our faces caked in chalk and our clothes soaked through to the skin. i kept my money in a plastic bag down my underwear, the only place...
as per this time last year, when i was in bangkok on holiday from my job in the uk, ekk managed to injure himself again! straight after my last blog, he had had to present himself
MBK CENTRE
SHOPPING NIRVANA, BANGKOK at the uk immigration doctor for the tb tests 3 days in a row at 7am. so no going out, leaving me to go on my own merry way for 3 nights. his appointments finished just in time for the festivities, but on the last night he cut his hand on a broken glass in dj station. so bad was it that we had to go to the a+e to get it fixed with stitches and bandages...
other days we visited the popular erawan temple shrine, mainly for ekk to pray that he hadnt got TB! also we went to khao san road where they were preparing for songkran. i didnt want to go there during the actual event, as it attacts a large unruly contingent of pissed up gap year travellers....
we also went to see the kite flying on sanum luang, near the grand palace, on a very hot day. so hot and bothered was i in fact that i am sorry to say i took it out on a poor "sandwich artiste" at a branch of SUBWAY, when they didnt have any double choc chip cookies left, nor any 7-up, and their tuna mayonaise was the
PARADE MARKING THE START OF THE THAI NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS (SONGKRAN)
AFTER THIS DRY EVENT, MY CAMERA WAS PUT IN HIDING FOR THE NEXT 5 DAYS! most watered down id ever experienced......
the day after the new year celebrations ended, me and ekk took a sleeper train overnight to nong khai, in north east thailand, which is just 20km from here, on the other side of the mekong river. as usual with thai trains, we arrived at our destination nearly 3 hours late. we spent a night in nong khai, before i had to leave ekk there, as my 30 day entry stamp i got when i came from malaysia, was already 1 day over!
so the main reason i am in vientiane now is to get a new proper thai visa, which i got today. i plan to go up to louang prabang then maybe to chiang mai, before returning to bangkok/hua hin to cheer ekk up! vientiane is probably the most laid back capital city on earth, though it is noticebly a lot busier than my first visit here 6 years ago in 2002. there a buzz here now, whereas before the city seemed half asleep. one thing is the same though, that is the filled french baguette sellers on every street, thats something i miss in thailand. (and no, SUBWAY, you
dont taste as good!)
when i arrived here last friday they were still in holiday mode from the lao new year, which is 2 days later than the thai new year. so a lot of places were shut, but now its back to normal, though the heat makes it feel anything but. i made the mistake of walking back from the thai embassy to my hotel, only about 2km, but by the time i arrived back i felt like id been trekking for days through a jungle, such was the heat and humidlity. to apply for the visa there was a queue for 3 hours accross the lawn of the embassy in the full morning sun. one lady who fainted was actually carried out!
so speak again when im back in thailand, with speedier and more reliable computers....plus maybe there the woman assistant is willing to turn the air conditioning in the internet cafe below 28 degrees c!!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.246s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 9; qc: 47; dbt: 0.192s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ruth
non-member comment
fingers crossed
Hi Steve, fascinating stuff, you are practically an anthropologist these days! Is that really true about the thunderstorms? Fingers crossed for Ekk, I hope the tests come out negative. Do you have any idea of when you'll return to UK or are you waiting until you have test results? It's a long time to wait. Lots of love, xx