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Published: November 14th 2008
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(Day 225 on the road)Relaxed Vientiane - what a change from other bigger cities in Asia, for instance crazy Hanoi! The capital of Laos greeted me with everything it had to offer: The people here are friendly and extremely laid-back, and the downtown area by the Mekong river is very pleasant. The streets are also pretty calm with very few cars and motorbikes on them, making the crossing a lot less treacherous than in most other Asian cities. So my positive impression when I first entered Laos a couple of days ago is confirmed so far, great!
I arrived at the long distance bus station and was ready to be met by hordes of touts offering me everything from taxi to hotels, but - nothing! Not a single person approached me, and it was such a weird experience and so nice! On the bus, I had met a guy from Laos who had emigrated to the USA some 25 years ago, and he took me along to his his uncle's house where I had a short glimpse into Laos everyday life. His uncle then gave me a lift on his motorbike to the area just north of the Mekong river,
where most of the guest houses are located. Again, I wandered the streets with my big backpack with nobody hassling me, and I had the luxury of finding a place to crash without five touts following my every move. It was a very nice experience after being harassed in Vietnam at ever corner for the last two weeks.
The next few days, I spent mostly relaxing in this pleasant city. Actually, Vientiane has no real sights (apart from a few temples and the river side), but the area around the Mekong is picturesque, with a huge variety of all kinds of restaurants, which serve great food and fresh fruit shakes at very reasonable prices. So I indulged quite a bit, also in a nice herbal sauna and massage, and was generally having a good time.
I also spent some time talking to the other travellers at my hostel, which somehow attracted quite a strange bunch (might have been because it was by far the cheapest place I could find). Many older long-term travellers stayed there; I particularly remember an interesting 65 year old Dutch guy who seemed to have been on the road forever (and was in Laos
eight years ago, when the streets here were still dust-roads). I also met an American lady who had been working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia for the last two years, and as we soon found out I had met one of her friends back in Ulaan Baatar during my time there in June. To further emphasise what a small world this is, she was also at the Beijing Olympics at the same time I was there in August, and she was at one of the exact same games I had watched (the softball gold medal game).
But not all is well here. Driving around Vientiane on my rented bicycle, I couldn't help but notice two things: 1) Every international aid or donor agency plus all major NGOs have offices here in the city. 2) There are a great number of very expensive cars on the streets. In a country in which about 75% of the population lives on 2$ per day or less, number 1 is understandable, but number 2 is strange. Driving a 60.000 EUR Mercedes is expensive anywhere, but even more so in such a poor country as Laos. I guess the picture will be very different once I leave the capital for the more rural areas of the country. Ona completely different subject, I also noticed that a lot of the Laos' women wear flip flop with short socks, quite a few sight when you consider that it is about 30 degrees here at the moment. One morning (already pretty warm) I even saw a girl on a motorbike dressed as follows: Short skirt and T-Shirt, Flip flops with socks, scarf, woolen hat, gloves (no helmet of course). Funny.
Next stop: Savannakhet (Southern Laos).
To view my photos, have a look at
pictures.beiske.com. And to read the full account of my journey, have a look at the complete
book about my trip at Amazon (and most other online book shops).
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Jan
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Hey Ben, wish you a great time in Laos. Nice pics! Jan