Beer Lao Country

Trip Start Dec 01, 2004
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22
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Trip End Apr 08, 2005


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Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep  ,
Wednesday, February 9, 2005

Vientiane is the capital of Laos and home of the famous Beer Lao factory. We really weren't sure what we wanted to do during our visit, so we took our time exploring the city. Perhaps we took too much time, because we certainly didn't see all that Vientiane has to offer.

Our first full day Gino was a responsible tourist and, with his friend Marcus, visited the Lao National History Museum. I didn't feel like learning much that day and passed on the museum. Instead, I took a nice walk around the city, sending off postcards (Gino has not sent his yet to this day) and burning our pictures to a cd. I snooped around, did a little window shopping, and ended up on a beautiful garden patio with a cold Beer Lao, reading the local paper and people watching. It was lovely.

I think that first day set the pace for the rest of our time in the capital 01 - Free Beer Lao!
01 - Free Beer Lao!
 . Over the next few days we managed to make time for a visit to Wat Sok Pa Luang for an herbal sauna and massages, bought some silk at Talat Sao - the morning market, enjoyed some Beer Lao in their factory lobby and hung out at the Buddha Park chatting with a local school teacher who wanted to practice his english.

There was no shortage of restaurants to try and we indulged, finding the food wonderful. We ate breakfasts at the Scandinavian Bakery - their sandwiches were really good (Gino enjoyed their 2 foot long meat and cheese sub). We had Indian twice - once at the Nazim and once at the Taj Mahal - and were satisfied with both meals, though I found the Taj Mahal cleaner than Nazim. We were impressed with the size and selection of Kop Chai Dew Food Garden's buffet lunch. They had a b.b.q., salad bar, desert station, seafood selections, fruit salads, noodle soup station and a sushi bar. All you can eat grilled meat and sushi? Gino was in heaven! Our last night in town we splurged and ate at an Italian restaurant. I enjoyed flavours I hadn't tasted in months (olive oil, basil, fresh ground pepper) and it made me a little homesick (just a little). Gino had a delicious steak, grilled just the way he likes it - long enough to take the chill out.
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