Lao Sakonh Guesthouse Vientiane

... a few of the people from the slow boat so it was good catching up with them. I did drag myself out of the hammock to do a little bit of exercise and cycled to some caves and a lagoon. I decided to stay for the Saturday night, as it was the hostels 1 month anniversary, and we combined it with some birthday celebrations. It was a really fun night with great company. I could easily have stayed in Vang Vieng longer but managed to force myself to move on.. I ...

... the room to get showered. We went out to eat at 17:00 so we have a few beers sitting on the Mekong River before going to a nice restaraunt in the centre. We had a all had a few drinks and the guys decided to go to a Lao Club, but when we got in there they had a Lao rock band playing so we only stayed for 1 and left then finished our beers off by he fountain before bed.<br>

... and we didnt get there till 8:30. it took us 1.5hr to find. and we were already way down the line.. number 147/8 and they didnt open till 12:30.. worst thing was it was already getting hot and there was no shade. When it did eventually open it didnt take too long, less then two hours. after that we headed back for some food found a bar and got drunk..! <br><br>The next morning we decided to rent out a ...

... first glimpse of Thailand across the Mekong - another 2 weeks before we actually cross the border.<br><br>Today we walked 10km to and from the Pha That Luang stupa, a huge golden statue which is a symbol of Buddhism and Lao sovereignty. It is surrounded by more wats, inside of which are murals depicting the life of buddha - certainly more cheerful than the Christian murals in Albi cathedral. From the photos you can tell it's rainy season, it's grey, but ...

... see feathers and beaks and such. But you pour the sauce into the hole you created, stir it up and eat it with a spoon. I had my camera out to film/photograph this joyous occasion, and to be honest, I loved the balut so much, I had eaten both of mine before I remembered that I should be filming it. It was great. After that we played dominos, Wes won, I came in last. Boo. I did sleep great however.<br><br>I just wandered around today, I walked a lot. I didn't plan my walk too well, so I just ...

... a glass of warm beer each with an ice cube in it. We graciously accepted. It wasn&#8217;t until a few moments later that we realised that we&#8217;d just &#8216;ordered&#8217; a beer from a family picnic outing. &#8220;Dumb Tourists&#8221;! They didn&#8217;t seem to mind though and enjoyed our company for the remainder of the day. In fact, they wouldn&#8217;t let us leave! It was great fun hanging out with a local family and eating local Laos barbeque ...

... Every tuk-tuk contained at least 10 of them! We arrived at our hostel, grabbed food-which was absolutely amazing there!-and settled in. We soon quickly discovered that we had to watch our belongings quite closely in compared to China. And that safety would be a bit different here. My backpack, the parts that were unlocked, had been rummaged through at the airport. And as we were unpacking, a random drunk tourist walked into our locked room (a.k.a ...

... khách s&#7841;n v&#7899;i xe con c&#7911;a ông. Qua<br>m&#7897;t &#273;êm ng&#7911; ch&#7853;p ch&#7901;n, m&#7897;t ngày xe &#273;i m&#7879;t, tôi ng&#7911; m&#7897;t gi&#7845;c th&#7853;t ngon<br>&#273;&#7875; l&#7841;i s&#7913;c cho chuy&#7871;n &#273;i Luangprabang ngày hôm sau.<br><br><br><br>PVDung, Luangprabang &#273;&#7847;u tháng 10/2008<br><br><br><br><br>My other blog:<br><br><br>http://vn.myblog.yahoo .com/BG-HN/article?mid=509

... the evening riverside festival. We decided we'd buy our own drinks from a corner shop, Lao Lao being the cheapest and we ran into Richard from the cave. Miraculously he'd found his camera in there! We had some drinks with Richard at the festival then decided we'd try and find a club. Richard made the mistake of asking a tuk tuk driver who took us miles out of town to a 5* hotel (Don Chan Palace, http://www ...

... of 'free trade', are circling like vultures. The politicians, secretive and sinister, are ready to sell the non-replaceable natural resources of Laos for a fistful of dollars. Everywhere there is talk of development and the NEM. Huge mansions have mushroomed up in Vientiane where imported 'specialists' and 'experts' live behind high fences in this almost crime-free country. The urban people are excited about the influx of luxury goods and some look longingly over the Mekong to ...