Visa time!
Trip Start
Mar 10, 2007
1
30
153
Trip End
??? ??, 2007
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Vietiane,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Sunday, May 13, 2007
I awoke early to be greeted in advance by what I'm now terming the corruption of the Vietnamese;- saw the p[rices of the visas in my guest house and i thought to myself, 'well they have to be cheaper if i go down to the embassy myself.' Aaaah, how foolish i am, turns out at the embassy they wanted an extra $12 to do the same. I returned to my guest house, one and a half hours wasted, and gave in my passport there, tail between my legs (they had earlier asked me if i wanted this service and i said 'no thanks!' in a confident, slightly cocky voice, like no, I'm a big boy, I'll do it myself.'
The Patuxai is an interesting monument to see (heres the history lesson for ya:), in 1969 the US government donated tons of cement to Laos for them to build a new airstrip, and instead they used it to build this large tower like structure, which they dubbed 'the vertical runway', as a monument to those who died in the pre-revolutionary wars. I like i as its a bit of a slap in the face to the US.
After a sweaty walk back to my guest house and some much needed cleansing, i pretty much wasted the rest of my time on the net (see, the things i do for you people!) sorting out stuff and looking at flights. The evening me and Claire spent waiting with a beer for Yatom to arrive, which he did, then we went for an Indian.
decoration at phra
The following day i checked out the Lying Planet's walking tour, and decided that i would tack on a walk to Phra That Luang. Didn't count on the fact that those shitty maps in the book are badly scaled and that i had added a 4km walk in the scorching midday sun to my already lengthly walking route. Still, at least I'll bur off some of the beer I'm drinking! (I'm getting rather fat from the amount of crap I'm eating and drinking).
The monument itself is worth seeing, and apparently its 'Vientiane's most important national monument', 'a symbol of both Buddhist religion and sovereignty' (yes, I'm quoting the lonely planet :-( )For lunch i ate a very hygienically questionable vegetarian buffet, which thankfully didn't make me ill, though the conditions of it probably should have!(i was hungry ok, and it said buffet! You know me Corrin, i can't say no to buffets, even when I'm not hungry.)
Next day was merely a time killing day till my bus to phonsovan, and after riding to the bus station in the morning (and getting thoroughly lost on the way) i checked out Wat si saket, which wasn't really anything that special (feeling templed out, and the heat makes it even harder to appreciate them.) Walking past a cafe on the way back to the hostel, i passed Kai, the gay guy that i met in Luang Prabang, and he invited me for a drink (i really have to start being firmer with people and saying no when i don't want a drink, but i feel soo rude). This was rather uncomfortable to be honest, and Kai did his usual thing of telling me one of his friends fancied me and wanted to do things with,and to, me (I'll spare you the details mum). Thankfully i escaped in one piece and later left for my 12hr sweaty smelly bus from hell, why it is i have to get stuck next to the lady who smells like faeces is besides me.)
For those of you who haven't been to s-e Asia yet, I'll inform you about the bus system here. Basically passenger buses double up as cargo transports, with the priority system going like this (in terms of seating) cargo, Lao people then foreigners, so you end up squashed between various pieces of luggage and boxes etc. Add to this non stop Karaoke style music (through the night too) at deafening volume and you have the Laos bus system. As us English would say, 'What jolly good fun!' Indeed.
