Vientiane, Laos
When I arrived in Vientiane, Laos on Sunday (14 January) afternoon I had a slightly difficult time finding a cheap guesthouse. The guesthouses are all spread out and there is no main street for guesthouses like there has been in the other cities in Laos. Finally I found a guesthouse that looked more like a hotel but actually had 3 dorm rooms. I happily took a dorm bed, but paid the same price I had paid for my own room with bathroom in Vang Vieng. At least it was fairly nice and clean.
Then I went out for lunch and as I was paying, I heard someone call my name. It was Yvo! Yvo, Helen, and the Israelis had once again surprised me and changed their plans. They should have been in southern Laos by now, but they were still in Vientiane. Talk about a roller coaster with all the splitting up and reunions! They had decided to slow down their trip a little bit since they were feeling rushed and spent an extra day in Vientiane. They were planning to go to a national park near Vientiane the following day for a few days. Since I had no plans whatsoever I decided to join them. Apparently there were still some good times left to be had with our little group. Then we all went to use the internet for a while, eat dinner, and watch a movie in a bar/restaurant. Yvo had been wanting to see the new James Bond movie since we were in Nepal and he finally bought it in the market in Vientiane for $1.50. Cheap, cheap!
The next morning (Monday, 15 January) I woke up early because I needed to go to the Vietnamese embassy to apply for my visa before I met the group at 10 AM to go to the bus station. The visa application process was easy enough, but much more expensive than I was expecting. The Vietnamese visa cost $50 here in Vientiane compared to ~$35 in Bangkok. Damn! But I couldn't have gotten it in Bangkok since you have to know the exact date you want to enter Vietnam when you apply for the visa and I just now figured that out. I needed to come back to the embassy in 2 days to pick up the visa. That was fine since I was planning to go to the national park for a couple of days and then come back to Vientiane.
I still had some time before I met up with the group after applying for the visa so on the way back I stopped by Patuxai, roughly translated means 'Arch of Triumph', a big Vientiane landmark. And like its namesake really resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, although up close it is quite ugly. The French really left a cultural impression here in Laos.... I went up to the top for some mediocre views, but Vientiane is so flat all you can see is rooftops and palm trees. Then I met up with the group and we got a tuk-tuk to the bus station and then a bus to Ban Hat Khai, a small village on the edge of the Phu Khao Khuay National Protected Area about 2 hours east of Vientiane.
Then I went out for lunch and as I was paying, I heard someone call my name. It was Yvo! Yvo, Helen, and the Israelis had once again surprised me and changed their plans. They should have been in southern Laos by now, but they were still in Vientiane. Talk about a roller coaster with all the splitting up and reunions! They had decided to slow down their trip a little bit since they were feeling rushed and spent an extra day in Vientiane. They were planning to go to a national park near Vientiane the following day for a few days. Since I had no plans whatsoever I decided to join them. Apparently there were still some good times left to be had with our little group. Then we all went to use the internet for a while, eat dinner, and watch a movie in a bar/restaurant. Yvo had been wanting to see the new James Bond movie since we were in Nepal and he finally bought it in the market in Vientiane for $1.50. Cheap, cheap!
The next morning (Monday, 15 January) I woke up early because I needed to go to the Vietnamese embassy to apply for my visa before I met the group at 10 AM to go to the bus station. The visa application process was easy enough, but much more expensive than I was expecting. The Vietnamese visa cost $50 here in Vientiane compared to ~$35 in Bangkok. Damn! But I couldn't have gotten it in Bangkok since you have to know the exact date you want to enter Vietnam when you apply for the visa and I just now figured that out. I needed to come back to the embassy in 2 days to pick up the visa. That was fine since I was planning to go to the national park for a couple of days and then come back to Vientiane.
I still had some time before I met up with the group after applying for the visa so on the way back I stopped by Patuxai, roughly translated means 'Arch of Triumph', a big Vientiane landmark. And like its namesake really resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, although up close it is quite ugly. The French really left a cultural impression here in Laos.... I went up to the top for some mediocre views, but Vientiane is so flat all you can see is rooftops and palm trees. Then I met up with the group and we got a tuk-tuk to the bus station and then a bus to Ban Hat Khai, a small village on the edge of the Phu Khao Khuay National Protected Area about 2 hours east of Vientiane.
posted by Dustin at 10:25 PM
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