Mixay Guesthouse Vientiane

Day 91 - 23/05/08 I must be the unluckiest man on the planet. I've had Typhoid, the ***** on numerous occasions and now an eye infection which won't go away and is getting worse. Went to the hospital again today and I have an appointment to see the eye specialist tomorrow morning. My vision is deteriorating and I'm getting a little worried now hence the second visit to a Laos hospital in 5 days. Worse case scenario I have to fly to Bangkok or Singapore to get some expert medical attention. My...

Hey there, We ended up not staying the night in Pakse because the only buses we could get to Vientiene were night buses and we really didn't want to spend another full day there because it's not that interesting. This was a pain because we'd already checked into a guesthouse for the night. Luckily Sophie and Laura (the girls we were with on Don Det) turned up then after being on the internet and decided they were going to stay in Pakse for a night. So they just took our room and we booked a b...

We weren't best impressed when we got to the kayaking office for our trip down to Vientiane, only to be told that 4 of the people booked onto our trip were still drunk and had cancelled their booking, dropping us below the requisite number of people for the trip to go. (Was it too much to ask that they use a modicum of restraint & drink just a little bit less on the evening before they were due to depart on a 7 hour kayaking excursion??!!) With pretty much no other option we had to resort...

In order to get the most out of our short trip, once again we opted for the night bus. This time we didn't get as lucky. Bumpy roads, loud music and a crazy driver with a death wish is not a recipe for a good nights sleep! Getting into Vang Vieng at 3 in the morning we found everyone following the curfew. The streets were deserted, making finding somewhere to sleep, rather difficult. Luckily, and a little strangely, there was one guy who took us back to his cheap and clean guest house where w...

Arriving in Vientiane in the middle of the afternoon after a very painful bottom rate hostel hunt, we walked around the city. For a capital city it was mighty tiny and not too rocking. We walked around, conducting our never-ending search for something decent to read and wound up having a Beer Lao watching the sunset. The following day we obediently completed Lonely Planet's walking tour of the city. First heading to Pha That Luang, and later visiting various wats and temples, and the city's m...

I did not expect the journey from Savannakhet to Vientiane to be quick or easy, especially the way I did it. The Minaxai's house happened to be on the main road going north, so I started walking and looking for a ride again. I still wasn't sure what the right hand signal was, so I just raised my hand which resulted in about 10 tuk-tuk drivers asking me where I wanted to go with $$ signs in their eyes. I eventually hopped on the back of a pickup local bus, which had no room inside, so I stood ...

I arrived in Vientiane after the kayak feeling rather tired. The Kayack was a bit of fun but since I am not used to kayaking my shoulders were a bit on the tired side. Most of the way was rather pleasant traveling down the Nom sing river (at least that is what I remember it was called. just before lunch we arrived at some white water to have a bit of fun. The rapids weren't to hairy but none the less I capsized with most of the other people ... mind you I was in a kayak by myself so it made i...

Oof, it feels like I am very behind in my blog updating! I need to stop being lazy and start keeping a better daily journal, because I have defenitely forgotten my first impressions of Laos by now...I can hardly believe I've been in Laos a whole week, and I am still in Luang Prabang! Slow Boat to Luang Prabang As I explained, I had decided to follow to heards of travelers on the two-day slowboat to Luang Prabang, apparently one of the most beautiful cities in SE Asia. I had booked my ticket a...

Vientiane Arrived on 25 Nov, cycled 95km from Nga Ngam Reservoir Plan to leave on ?? Stayed at Mixay Guesthouse, $5 a night Seeing as the raging nightlife in Na Nam township didn't keep me up much past dusk, I'm up and cycling by 6.30am. I love cycling this early - the road is your own, the temperature is comfortable, and you have the satisfaction of knowing you are going to get wherever you are going that much earlier... any kms on the road before 8am feel like a bonus. I'm cycling down high...

Living a rough and wonderful life; recently filled with the vindication of post traumatic experience disorder. Everything seems slightly blurry and photo-shopped like somebody rubbed vaseline over my reality lens. Oh wait, that's because I lost my glasses during the night after being drugged n mugged in this fantastically vicarious roller-coaster I call life and I've resorted to using the extra just-in-case daily contacts I bought to go diving to see. Of course in the morning after I was slig...