Vientiane, Lao - Fotola.com

Vientiane, Lao

Saturday, January 08, 2005 a 5:54am
By jodi

This is not going to be an extensive entry as I have just spent the last hour resizing and uploading photos into various places, and my brain feels fried!

So here I am in Vientiane, the capital of Lao. This is certainly the quietest and most unassuming capital city I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. Small enough to bike around, it's difficult to figure out when you've actually reached the city centre. Compared to Bangkok it is like a sleepy town- and I guess that is where it's charm lies. Sitting on the Mekong it is lovely and green, and the atmosphere is lazy and relaxed.

I came here by overnight train (14 hours) after a hellish day of taking buses and taxis all over Bangkok. While there I picked up three bags which were intended for the children's school in Vientiane. In return however, I managed to dump my huge red bag. Thankfully, after all the city treking I'd done the ride here itself was quite enjoyable. I had a sleeping berth so I managed to sleep a record 10 hours (quite a feat considering it was very cold and they left the fluroescent lights on all night) .

Once in Nong Kai it was quite a struggle to get around with all my luggage, but with the help of an American guy (Mike) I managed to make it to the border crossing. As expected this was quite a chore but I successfully got myself a visa and passed through quite uneventfully. While there I managed to exchange my Thai Baht into Kip (which had proved an impossibility in Thailand). In return for seven notes I walked away with some 1,860,000 kip- the largest wad of cash I've ever held in my life. Since the highest demonination is 20,000 it looked like I'd robbed a bank... Not that it amounts to much in reality - only 100 pounds or so, but I felt rich!

Once past the border crossing a North Korean man who was in the queue with me helped us find a cheap Tuk Tuk into town. For a 20k trip it cost about 60 pence. I was dropped off at the Sunshine School, where I am going to be volunteering for the next week, and touched base with the woman overseeing everything. I also gratefully handed over the three bags I'd been lugging around. I then booked into a guest house, and had the opportunity to shower and change clothes. Since it is the weekend (and the school is closed) I then borrowed a bicycle and headed out into the town. I road around the city aimlessly for about 5 hours before I finally spotted this internet cafe and decided enough was enough. In that time I managed to visit a number of markets, see scores of Wats and idle along the Mekong. Now I've finished here I am going to head back to the guesthouse and see if I can get in touch with Mike for dinner (always good to have some company in a strange place!)

Tomorrow I might head over to a nearby Wat where it is possible to get a "rustic" massage (whatever that means) and have a sauna. I feel like my muscles need a treat after the last few days.

Other than that, I will make sure to get on again in the next few days and update you all on my adventures in the Lao school system.

Entries from Jan 08, 2005:

Jan 8, 2005

Jodi