Kathleen
Vientiane, Loas – February 29-March 2
Here we are in Vientiane at the end of our 11-day tour, and I have managed to catch up on my writing! Hurrah! It is with mixed feelings that we leave Laos tomorrow…we are excited to see Pnom Penh for the first time and return to Ankor Wat, but this country has definately grown on us while we have been here. It is easier to navigate than Myanmar and has more infrastructure, but it is still remote enough feeling that you feel like you are in a very different part of the world. We have found the people to be pleasantly quiet, but friendly and with a sense of humor, the landscape is tropical and palmy and so many vistas look like paradise. The small towns are mostly hodge podge of little shops (well, actually more like stoops) where families live, work, eat, and etc. There are many lovely temples and the buddhists seem to practice their religion in a quiet, personal way without worrying at all why you are at their temple taking pictures and not doing what you are supposed to be doing.
We didn’t hear or read very much to recommend Vientiane, the capital and largest city (4 Million people) so our expectations were pretty limited, but upon arrival we had a delightful stroll around town at night finding a lovely night market and pedestrian road along the river and an organized central core with shops and restaurants and everything you could need. A daytime city walk plus tuk tuk ride to the main temple did not lessen our view that Vientiane seems like a well-managed, growing city with a very local feel. The population is young as in other places in Laos (1/3 of the population is under 14) and this seems to give things a care-free feel. We looked off of our balcony this afternoon and saw all the kids running around naked at the kindergarten across the street (apparently 3 PM is shower time), they were having a blast!
The budget hotel we are staying at has an opulent, gigantic room on the sixth floor in the corner, and we are taking a little time at the pool to decompose before our travel day tomorrow. There is a restaurant across the street that seems very popular and nice looking which doesn’t show up on trip advisor or google. We asked at reception and they said it is famous in Lao for BBQ. We might just give it a whirl.