The sun came out in Vientiane

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I arrived in Vientiane, Laos on December 28. It was such a relief to get out of the craziness of Hanoi. No one harasses you here to buy things from them or to take their tuk-tuk. Lots of people say hello to you in the street. Big smiles all around. Plus the weather has been amazing... sunny and +30C every day. Much improved from the cold and rain and the misery of northern Vietnam. I'm not the only one who feels this way... everyone I've met had a similar, unhappy experience.

I met up with Ed and Liz, a couple that live in Switzerland, that I originally met in Siem Reap. I also met up with them in Hoi An as well. Ed was born in New Zealand but grew up in Australia, and now lives in Switzerland. Liz was born in Switzerland, but lived in the United States through most of her school days, and now lives in Switzerland again. So it's not entirely accurate if I say that they're "the Swiss couple".... Ed sounds Australian and Liz sounds American!

There isn't much to do in Vientiane as far as sight seeing. But it's nice to just hang out and ride bicycles around town, go to the mighty Mekong river to watch the sunset, and sit by the pool during the day. There was quite the New Years celebration here. They had a large stage set up with live music, and the party was sponsored by Tiger Beer. There was 25 minutes of fireworks at midnight too! Ed, Liz and I had met 4 other Canadians earlier in the day, so we all met up and partied down! We were standing close to the front of the stage and all of the Thai and Laos people were standing, watching the band play English covers as well as some Asian rock songs. As soon as we started dancing, everyone joined in! There were little kids break dancing, old ladies twirling eachother around... it was a really cool experience. Everyone was so into it and having a great time. I guess it just took our dancing to break the ice! It was nice to be around some fellow Canadians as well. There's an instant bond when you meet a fellow Canadian. It's like you have a little piece of home with you whenever you meet someone from Canada. It was cool to ring in the new year with some new friends!

Well, I'm off to the pool to relax in the sun. I'm heading to Vang Vieng tomorrow. It's the place to go if you want to go tubing!

Happy 2009! Much love ~K xo

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Comments

[Catherine]

happy new year!
i'm glad you're somewhere a bit more chill and enjoying yourself, kate!! happy new year -- i can't wait to get caught up over the phone at some point in the not too distant future. xoxox