Lycra-clad Laotians and Biting Bed bugs
Vang Vieng -> Vientiane, 3rd to 8th May 2002
After I'd had enough of caves and other such scenic things, I took a
'bus' back down to Vientiane. I spent my last few days in Lao exploring this
quiet capital and enjoying the easy life.
Of course, I'd only been in Vientiane for less than 5 minutes when
Tilen popped his head out of a bakery across the street & shouted to
me. So after grabbing a bed in the dorms at Sabaidy Guest House, I
joined them for breakfast.
After catching up on each other's adventures, we set off to explore
Vientiane. Over the course of the next few days we split into groups
and did our own things. We kept ourselves busy over the next few
days, so our time in Vientiane passed quickly. However, due to the
annoying snail like nature of internet access in Laos, I became a
bit lazy and didn't update my journal for a few days. This means
that I can only offer a quick summary of what we did before leaving
this beautiful country...
We checked out a dozen and one different markets, the most
impressive one was the morning one which had a huge and impressive
range of goods. The least impressive one was the evening market,
which we found was closed in the evenings...hmm...just a suggestion,
but maybe they should change the name?
Tillen, Sophie & I also took a short hike out to a store called SMP
Enterprises, a fantastic shop selling brilliant, hand-carved wooden
goods. We'd found their smaller branch in Luang Prabang but decided
to make our purchases here. It was in a far corner of Vientiane, but
was worth the effort to get to. I bought some beautiful carvings and was almost tempted to by an amazing chess set. But the
sheer size & weight meant couldn't really buy it.
We also went to see the amazing
Wat Pha That Luang, a unique and breath-taking wat (temple). It can
easily be seen from a distance as a solitary golden finger that
scrapes the quiet blue skies near Vientiane. I'd definitly recommend
seeing this instantly recognisable monument. It was one of my
favourite sights in Asia.
Another interesting sight is the Buddha Park, a sprawling collection
of sculptures of Buddha in various classic poses and other assorted
deities. I believe it to be the work of one sculptor (I can't
remember for sure...) and the size of the collection is astounding!
From reclining Buddha images which are more than a dozen times
larger than a man, down to tiny individual religious icons. It
really is quite a breathtaking sight...I'm always amazed by
sculptures, especially on this scale! How do you even begin to do
such a thing?! The whole sculpture garden is quite a refreshing
experience, especially as it's in an idyllic, tranquil grassy
setting. It's only a short bus ride away from the main city and is
really worth the trip. But if it's busy there, you'll feel like a
little child, out with his kindergarten group, running through the
doors, holes, nooks and crannies of the 100s of assorted sculptures!
One of the stranger sights we saw was possibly the largest outdoors
aerobics class ever! 100s of Laotian people, more lycra than you
could shake a stick at and cheesy trance music makes the strangest,
but funniest looking aerobics class ever!
If you come to Vientiane, I'd definitely recommend grabbing one of
the freshly filled baguettes you can get on the street stands. I had
delicious fresh baguette sandwiches every day! You can just point to
what you want, or have a chat with some of the few English speaking
ones. The range choices of fillings is vast and scrumptious...and
juicy...and full of flavour....mmm...I'm getting hungry just
thinking about it!
And the last food related tip...is the Scandinavian Bakery! This
really is a wonderful little bakery/cafe situated right in the
middle of Vientiane. Come on for the huge, western style breakfasts
(the healthy kind, not the greasy-British stereotypical,
artery-clogging breakfast) or enjoy one of the delicious cakes,
pasteries, biscuits,buns,rolls....
And there's one more reason why the Scandinavian Bakery is well
known among backpackers...this is explained by the unique award
which they won from Go Gap...the
Best
Toilet in Asia award! Really...a beautiful, sparkling-clean
Western style toilet. Trust me. They'll come a time when you've seen
more squat toilets than people in Asia or you're feeling a bit rough
around the edges after a big night out, the toilet in this bakery is
a life saver. Seriously. Grab a drink here, then use their toilet.
You won't regret it.
But that's a enough toilet...now for something even more
gross...read on if you dare...
In Vientiane, I chose to stay in the 'Smile' guesthouse...one of the
very few backpacker type places in the city. They have largish,
fairly comfortable dorms and came recommended in my guidebook...so I
went with it..
After one night in the Smile guesthouse, I began itching in the
morning...scratching a little by lunch time and by the evening I was
scratching like a Drum & Bass DJ convention....So I carefully
checked out my arms and my sides, and lo and behold, I was covered
in rows of little red lumps. Weird. What was it? Bed bugs. Nice.
Not. Ewwhhhhhhhh....
However, I was a bit stuck...I couldn't move out because there was
no where else for the same price and I needed to stay in the city
for a couple more days. However, I found out somewhere that bed bugs
are killed by sunlight and I remembered that my bed was far from the
small window in the room. Luckily, there were some empty beds by the
window, so I made a quick change and didn't have any more troubles.
Still, It wasn't a nice experience and even though I told the hostel
owner, I don't think they did anything about it...So, if you're ever
in Vientiane...do NOT stay in the Smile Guesthouse!After all of
these experiences, it was soon time for the breaking of the fellowship.
The group of people I'd met when I arrived in Laos all had different
plans for the next steps of their journeys. Of course, before we all
went different way, we had a goodbye drinkies sesh (2 litre jugs of beer only
cost 14,000Kip, about 1.20! Don't get that at home). It went late
into the night and before we knew it, the small hours had
disappeared into a haze...
The next day Tillen & Wesley took an
early bus to Chiang Mai (Thailand), and Matt & Danny headed south in
Lao. Sophie also headed South in Lao & Tom went in the direction of
Bangkok. And with everyone now gone, it was time for me to go too.
But the destination for me? Hanoi in Vietnam!
Next Diary Entry >>
|
