Off to Vang Vieng this morning on the bus. I just love those bus trips ... so much fun!!
I've been awake since 2am worrying about not being able to find accommodation (or it might have been the itch from the bed bugs feasting on me!) have been winging it to date but might have to start being a bit more organised otherwise I might find myself on the streets.
Had a good day yesterday wandering around the sights of Vientiane. It's a lovely city and hardly busy at all. I walked off some that blobbiness so feel a bit slimmer today.
Vientiane has it's own Arc de Triomphe (Putaxai) just out side of the city centre. It has become a place for the Lao people to hang out and relax now. You can walk right into it and up to the top and get great views of the city. On the way up the mandatory souvenir stalls but nobody hassles you to buy anything ... it actually feels weird not being hassled. And then about 1km up the road is the most important national monument in Lao, Pha That Luang and it's just beautiful in all it's gold glory.
And then walked back into the city centre i visited the Wat Si Saket the oldest temple in Vientiane ... gorgeous old temple with 1,000's of buddhas ... this temple would have to be my favourite temple. There were two young monks wandering around when I was there. Across the road is a royal temple, Haw Pha Kaew, which has even more buddhas and is a beautiful old building too. I found a very cuddly purry cat so got my cat fix.
Walked to the banks of the Mekong which are just one street away. They are doing this massive park development on the banks .. will look great when it's all finished but hopefully they will plant some trees as it's a bit hot. There was a huge statue of a man down there but not sure who he was ??? will have to find out. So walked up the main drag along the Mekong ... lots of cafes. Found an Indian restaurant that actually served Dal Baht and had a very friendly Indian waiter ... after I got homesick for Nepal I settled for the Vegetable Pakora and a cup of the Lao Coffee (resisted a beer cos it was too early) .. the coffee is different .. very strong and extremely sweet.
Arrived back at my hotel and my clean clothes were ready for me ... yipppeeee :))
Last night went back to Sabai Eli restaurant. Had the BEST seafood curry ... yummo it was soooo good .. washed down with a Lao Beer. It's hard to resist a 2nd bottle but they come in 640ml bottles and two of those in my stomach might just push me over the edge. And there was a live singer again .. i didn't see him cos I was sitting outside but he sounded western. He wasn't as good a singer as the two Lao singers the night before.
Sitting at the next table was a Mum and Dad and their 16 month old son. They live in Jakarta but he's american and she's from Indonesia and their son was just so adorable. He had the wildest black fuzzy hair and pulled the funniest faces. I just wanted to kidnap him ... so cute. And last night I saw a hooker standing in the shadows on the corner of the street and she had the skimpiest dress on .... I must be so naive or a prude cos I was totally shocked.
Well best be off and get ready for the bus.
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