Le Parasol Blanc Vientiane

... atm and guest house at the terminal. This was a huge culture shock after Vietnam and a very, very welcome one. We decided to kill a few hours at the bus terminal until sunrise before heading into the centre. After being dropped in the city centre, we found a hostel and crashed both exhausted from the bus journey, when we awoke we went to discover Vientiane.

After 3 weeks in Vietnam, Vientiane was an absolute treat. Although it ...

... massive. You could walk around the inside of it and get onto the roof of it. The centre of the spherically structure contained little rooms with more statues. Weird place to say the least. We then headed back to the city and got a puncture on the way. Was fixed within a couple of minutes as there are puncture repair shops all over the place.. and so there should be with the amount of motorbikes here.

... a dumb tourist.

I finally talked to some of my friends from home this week, I have really only talked to my parents. I try to upload pictures and some commentary to facebook so people feel apart of my life, but the mass emails and the responses to every message wear me out. I don't know how it works, but just talking to a friend on gmail chat can make everything seem a little brighter. Whatever it was, I approached my Friday at work in much better spirits and ...

... was a must for Charlie who had been working like hell the following weeks as he was switching jobs and needed relaxation.
The manager of the massage center (who kind of liked me) agreed to take us out to a good restaurant then nice bars. After a few beers in a bar I managed to escape from the nice (but quite enormous) lady and we finished the night ...

... are quite a few Budhist temples in Vientiane and a sort of attempt at copying the Arc de Triomphe (not that impressive) but the best thing has to be the riverside bars. There are numerous makeshift bars all along the Mekong river where you can sit with the locals and watch the amazing sun set whilst sipping a juice, or more likely a beer Lao, and trying to get over the hot hot chilli taste of your dinner (how can papaya salad be THAT hot?)

... tired a lot lately. The food in Laos is not nearly as good as Thailand. Probably need to get some more wholesome meals in, but some of the food is a bit sketch to eat. I'm not partying at all lately. Just sweating a whole lot. Man, it is HOT in SE Asia! But regardless of the oppressive heat and the lackluster food, I've had stellar days. Some of the hikes have been out of this world. The limestone cliffs and the ...

... money to keep us afloat. As we walk around we see that many restaurants and businesses are closed. Most of the market is empty. I was starving and bought something from a small shop - sesame crackers that were sweet (of course). We circled back toward the touristy area to find an open restaurant. At Manivanh (small place with a sandwich cart out front) I had a chicken kabob with cucumber, tomato and garlic spread. Bill had fried ...

... n nay. Nếu tính trên đầu người thì đất còn rộng, nhưng thực tế ở một số bản vùng cao đã bị thiếu đất canh tác do đất bạc màu và hiện tượng bán đất. Có nơi vùng núi mà rừng chỉ còn lại 12%. Hiện nay người Tàu mua khá nhiều đất và ngày c ...

Before we arrived to the border crossing we stopped at a shop to get me a visa. I had my picture taken and had to fill out some paperwork. We drive 1 block up the road to the border crossing. I pay US $31 to cross and my Thai friends pay nothing and just show their Thai ID card. We crossed the First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge on a bus to Laos. I don't know exactly if ...

... the first few days here, my head was spinning when I contemplated writing about our experiences. This was, after all, supposed to be a travel journal, I reasoned. But I felt wretched about being here: a sunburned foreigner surfing into their country on a tsunami of hard currency. Looking around, it seemed obvious what I represented: westernism, consumerism and the burgeoning tourism industry. I felt too strongly to give some facile travel account about us 'on holiday' in Laos. I ...