day 9

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Delhi Belly ATTACKS !!! Luckily I was just a witness to it, as two of the group were hit with the awful illness. One of them was really bad, she looked like death warmed up. Today was probably not the most convenient day to get the bug either as we had to fly from Luang Prabang (LP) to Vientiane. It was only an hour flight, but when you’re sick any length of flight is bad, as all you want to do is to stay in bed. Luckily they both got through the flight to make it to the comfort of air-con room, were they could recuperate. I went out in search of a Wi-Fi cafe to find a place to download my blog to the WWW. At home, in Ireland my drink of choice, Hot Chocolate, costs a whopping €3.20, while here in Laos I can get it for €0.90 with the added bonus of free Wi-Fi.
Vientianne is the capital of Laos. Interestingly enough, Laos has the same population as Ireland. But unlike Ireland, It has that umbrella over it ‘third world.’ I wondered on the flight today what makes this place third world ? They have internet cafes, coffee shops, mobile phones, running water, a sewerage system and even in LP I saw a Hummer drive by. Now it was a rare sight, like a needle in a hay stack, but still it had a Laos registration plate. I know the official ‘third world’ status is defined by GDP which i think for Loas is somewhere in the region of $400 p/a. But maybe it’s having restaurant and coffee shops that only foreigners can afford to visit. So far all the restaurants and coffee shops that I have visited, all the clientele have been Westerners. I assume Laos people either eat at home or at the potential Delhi belly food stall on the street ??

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