Vientiane

05/01/08 - 09/01/08

The capital city of Laos, the so-called 'most relaxed city of the world'.

Well yes we suppose it is, but we were not so enthusiastic about it... in fact we only spent a few days here in order to get our minds sorted for our next move.

We found accomodation at a cheap guesthouse at a time when most of the guesthouses were full. Janet managed to snatch the last room just in time before some other travellers were about to take it... the so called survival of the fittest.

We spent most of our time in the centre, apart from some sight seeing with a motorbike. We went to the That Luang Victory and to Monument (Patouxay) which is the most important monument in Laos. As sightseeing goes that was most basically it. We checked out both the morning and night markets but were quite dissapointed... nothing in comparison to Chang Mai.

As regards to eating, after the first disgusting experience of our first meal next to the river, we stuck with The Swedish Bakery, which serves delicious pizzas for very reasonable prices, as well as a small restaurant we discovered serving good food (The Full Moon Cafe).

On our second day we decided to go out for a drink. After going round with the bike to check out various places we ended up in a small bar owned by a very friendly Korean owner, who had a very pronouned french accent. He confirmed our suspiscion, when he eventually told us that he spent thirty years of his life in France, which most definetely explained his accent. We promised him to go back the day after so Yakof could show him some tricks with his Poi... and so we did.

We were lucky enough to meet Oliviero Rusconi, on our second night there, an italian archeologist who has been living in Laos for the past ten years. He has a vast knowledge of Angkor and explained to us some historical aspects of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. A very nice man with an extensive knowledge of history. Later as promised, Yakof performed his mini poi show next to the river bank.

Apart from this, the only highlight, was a bowling game which Yakof convinced Janet to play... And guesss what... surprise surprise...her first game turned out to be the success as she was won!!

So thats all about it for Vientiane...not much to see...not much to do...

Now hitting off to the south...