Mekong Hotel Vientiane

Sabaidee !
Les plus perspicaces l<auront devine (je l<avais fait facile facile, non ?), ma derniere activitee avant de quitter luang Prabang-la-belle fut: une journee avec les elephants !
Avant de partir j<avais un peu de remords. C<est un peu facile, non ? Un peu kitch peut-etre meme....Mais une fois arrivee sur place, avec Andrew (N-Z) et Sarah (Suede), je n<etais meme pas sortie du vieux Land Roover que mon coeur battait fort et les jambes me tremblaient ...

... s a capital city it has a population of 200,000 and a very laid back feel. There is a huge Thai influence and the streets are filled with French bakeries, orange clad Buddhist monks and beautiful temples. The best thing however is the friendly attitude of all the local people, there is no hassle, no shouting from across the street at you and if you tell someone no, they respect it. We did have one shock in Vientiane however, at the nights the ...

... motivated. The attorney's girlfriend at VFI was asking me and Kongsang (women’s right expert) why we were interested in human rights and it was so interesting to hear Kongsang’s answer about how her life had come to a point where she realized she was passionate about something and good at it. I did not really have such a defined issue, my life has never pointed in one direction without stopping.

When I was in undergrad I had idealized the whole ...

We started our trip in Laos from the capital, Vientiane, where we flew straight from Siam Reap in Cambodia. We were expecting something similar to Cambodia, big traffic, no rules, thousands of motorcycles everywhere and people trying to sell you all sort of things at every corner but we've quickly realised that Laos is quite different from Cambodia, particularly in the capital. First of all, people smile less, a lot less! Second of all, the town is very well looked after, with ...

... and the sunsets are stunning. The sky turns purple here- REAL purple. I've seen elephants, bears, massive spiders, snakes, all kinds of wildlife. The other day we rented motorbikes and headed about 25 km outside of Vientiane to Buddha Park, an amazing area filled with Buddist and Hindu statues. Then we had some Beer Lao at sunset overlooking the Mekong. Truly a special day. OK, I promise to write soon! PEACE!

... and BeerLao. After our meal, Bill gave the lady his flower garland. We took a tuk tuk to Pha That Luang. This large golden stupa is a National Monument with Religious and Laos sovereignty significance. It is shown on the Laos coat of arms and their currency. It is believed to have been a Religious site since the 3rd century. It was the site of a That in 1566 that was destroyed by treasure hunters after it was sacked by the Siamese in ...

... mở rộng quy mô, lập đồn điền cao su ở miền Bắc, còn người Việt chiếm khứ phía Nam Lào. Cứ đà này thì không lâu nữa vì tăng trưởng kinh tế mà Lào sẽ phải trả giá quá đắt về môi trường và căng thẳng xã hội.

PVDung

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... was planned or not but my friend's dad speaks with a van driver and tells him what we would like to see while in Vientiane. While driving towards the city on the right side of the street I notice it is completely different on this side of the Mekong. It is much more impoverished in Laos. There are quite a few shanties but still some nice modern houses mixed in there.
Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep safety_first

... to axe the travel journal and just take photographs. Then, some days later, I realised that's just the kind of 'head in the sand' thing that us westerners excel at. I reasoned that if I carry on with the journal then no matter how limited its scope and how restricted it is in expression, it will at least serve as a record of the people we met and the feelings we felt at the time, if only as a personal one. Maybe one or two people would read it and would make them think twice ...