Sleepy Laos

Trip Start May 03, 2008

Trip End May 02, 2009

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Where I stayed

Saysolusy Guest House

(Vientiane hotels)

Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep Vientiane, Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Friday, May 9, 2008

Got our bus from Bangkok on May 8th. We were on the road for about 40mins when we had a little fender bender! It really was little because nobody had realised we had even crashed! Anyway, there must have been some sort of damage as we were on the side of the road for 2hours with occasional hammering going on out front. Meanwhile, somebody on the bus decided to go to the bar we were near to get a beer. There must have been a dispute over the price because the bar owner followed him onto the bus demanding money. A brief argument ensued and eventually, after some english & Thai insults, money was exchanged and we were finally on our way. The journey lasted the scheduled 12 hours including the 2 hr stop so we obviously made some time on the road somewhere.

Crossing the Laos border was relatively painless, we paid for our visas and an exit fee for Thailand and that was it. We arrived into Vientaine and went to our hostel. Once checked in we went out to explore the city. Not that it's very big. It's the capital of Laos but it must be the smallest capital in the world! We had a look around a got some lunch - I had a particulatly hot curry.

We decided to rent some bicycles to see the sights. It sounded like a good idea over lunch but when it came to crunch time I was more than a little apprehensive!! I decided to bite the bullet. It was av ery pretty bike with a basket at the front, Simon's was the same only a bit bigger. We cycled down he road we were on but once we got to the junction I found difficulty crossing the very busy road.

Patuaxi, Vientaine

It doesn't help that I haven't been on a bicycle since I was a child! With some questionalbe cycling we went in the general direction of where we needed to be. We got a little bit lost because we weren't too sure where we were going and there are a lot of one way streets in the place. We were also trying to avoid the multi-laned main streets. At one stage we decided to cut through a quiet laneway that turned out to be some sort of temple with loads of Buddhist monks milling around. We had got the hang of cycling at this stage so went very fast to the end of the lane which was CLOSED!! We were about to turn around when a nice man told us to hop over one of the short gates. Amazingly we were just by one of the sights we wanted to see - must have been guided by Buddah!

We had somehow arrived at the Patuxai which is the Laos version of the Arc de Triomph and is in the middle of a roundabout. It was made from concrete donated by the US to build an airport....oh well! As far as I was concerned it would have been easier cycling around an airport that this thing. If driving on the right wasn't enough to put me off on this roundabout there was 3 lanes and we had to be in all 3 at different points. No when I say lanes, they're more of a guideline than anything. Basically if you think you'll fit then they go for it! We only had to tackle this on our way back though from the main toursis site in Vientaine - the Pha That Luang temple. Unfortunately, by the time we got there I was too wrecked to see it. I was maimly concentrating on breathing atthat point.

We locked up our bikes and went into the gardens. I sat down and Simon was again dispatched for water!! He looked around while I tried to get back to some form of normality! I eventually moved from my seat on the grass and went to look at the temple. It was all gold - now there's someting I haven't seen before! Once we saw that it was back on the bikes to face the traffic back. It actually wasn't that bad on the way back and eventhough there are no rules, everyone just gives way to the other or overtakes and we all just get on with it. That said, I'm glad it was a small place we decided to do it in as I don't think I'd survive!

Had dinner that night and early to bed as there was an early start to get the bus to Luang Probang.