I got into Vientiane, Laos yesterday about 2pm after about a five-hour bus ride. What makes the bus ride so noteworthy is that the distance is something like 90 miles. So to put it into better context, we went about 20 miles an hour for about five hours. We did stop for lunch, so the numbers I’m giving are a little bit off, but not by much. What slowed us down was the road was nearly all dirt and had huge potholes that made it so the driver couldn’t go very fast. The ride itself wasn’t that bad, but for the record, it wasn’t a lot of fun.
Vientiane is the capital city in Laos and although I don’t know the actual population, it seems to be a very big city. Not like Bangkok big, but still pretty big with lots of people and lots of cars. I was here six years ago and at the time it was New Years Eve, and to date stands as the best new years I’ve ever had. I was with a group of about 12 people and we were on the Mekong River bank drinking, dancing, and eventually watched the fireworks. It’s one of those memories that will forever make this city something kind of special to me.
After dropping my bags off and grabbing my camera I headed out to see the area around the hostel. There is a huge expat/backpacker community where I am. There are all sorts of western style restaurants and cafes here most of them have at least a few ‘white’ people sitting around. This one I’m at in fact has a guy typing on his computer right now. J
I went to the Mekong just a block away from the hostel first. It’s part of the great memory that I just described above so I wanted to see it again. I couldn’t figure out where I was so many years ago though, so I just walked around taking some photos. I did get approached by a few girls on bikes wanting to give me a massage though. I don’t think there was anything sexual being implied, but as a middle-aged single man; massage equals sex. J Unfortunately though, I am not a perv.
After the Mekong I headed back to the hostel. I was kind of burned out from the bus ride and it was very hot and humid, so I decided to rest a bit before going out for dinner.
Like I mentioned there are a lot of western style restaurants around my hostel and I was kind of in the mood for something a little bit more ‘western’ as a long time traveler I know that I can never go completely ‘native’ when it comes to food. There have been times, especially in Thailand, that I think I never really thought about having a burger or pizza, but in most places it just feels good to have something normal. So as I was walking around and checking the menus, I ran into a Mexican Restaurant. OMG! I love Mexican! It’s been so long since I dripped hot sauce over a burrito or tasted refried beans. I did have a burrito in Taipei, but it was not a very good burrito… it left me wanting more. So I decided to pay a premium to eat Mexican and got a table. I could almost taste the burrito from the menu before I even ordered. In fact, I think there was a little drool forming on the side of my mouth just envisaging the meal. Unfortunately though, like everything in life, expectations are rarely ever met and my burritos were okay, but nothing what I was expecting… lesson learned.
This morning I headed to the ‘day market’ which seems to be more of mall than anything else. I didn’t take any photos, but it was interesting. The mall is like five floors and I only found one escalator that was working.
