I left my hotel room at about 8am to catch my bus to Vientiane. I wasn't as hungover as I thought I would be but was still feeling pretty groggy.
Across the road from the hotel was a place that offers "music for ipod" which sounds pretty dubious but I fancied a few new albums even if the artists concerned may never see any cash from my purchase! At one US Dollar per album it's a good deal for me nonetheless so apologies in advance to The Killers, Johnny Cash, Hot Hot Heat, The Futureheads, Bjork, Sandi Thom and The Verve.
The minivan arrived and I was on my way. It was only a three and a half hour journey and by 12.30pm I was in the Laos capital city, Vientiane. I hadn't researched any accommodation so I sat outside a cafe trying to get my bearings with the Lonely Planet guide and my compass. Once I figured where I was I walked around looking for a place to stay - the first place was $1.80 and offered dormitory accommodation. I looked around but it was appalling, just a room full of crappy bunk-beds with no actual door just a walkway out to the landing. I kept walking.
During the bus journey's single stop I saw a guy that I vaguely recognised and as I was walking round Viemtiane I saw him again - also with his back pack on. I walked over and we started talking. I asked his name and it was "Quinn" and I remembered back to Luang Nam Tha and Louang Prabang where I'd met a German girl called "Marina" who had been talking about a "Quinm". It turned out to be the same guy and then I also remembered that Marina and Quinn were the two that I'd swapped my guide books with. So I had already met this guy and had his older version Laos book in my bag! Small world. We looked at one guesthouse together called the Hong Kong Restaurant/Guesthouse. That was also a dive - the first room had real problems with the wiring so the manageress took us to one where the wiring was ok. That room was marginally better but it didn't have any beds in it yet! She shouted out to a member of staff who presumably began sorting out the beds. She left me and Quinn in there and I broached the subject of sharing a room since the prices were higher than elsewhere in Laos. We moved on from this crazy place and spent the next hour looking around until we found a really good place that justified it's $15 price tag.
The second big coincidence of the day happened in the Scandinavian Bakery where Quinn and I were ordering some lunch. Leonie was the German girl that shared my kayak in Louang Prabang about four days ago. I knew she was living in Vientiane with the U.N. drugs programme and that she was leaving Laos and going back to live in Switzerland. She walked in to pick up cakes for her leaving party. She invited me along but I guessed it might be some sort of office "do" and I just met Quinn too so I declined but wished her a safe trip back to Europe.
I think the previous days activities were catching up on my and I headed back to the hotel for a sleep. In the evening I went back to the Hong Kong restaurant for food and I was alone since Quinn had gone off on his own while I was sleeping. As I waited for my order I was joined by a member of staff probably the manager who asked to sit at my table. I put my book to one side and looked forward to a nice bit of conversation but this guy obviously thought his English was better than it was! He spoke really quickly and his words all mushed up together so you had no chance of understanding. It reminded me of the guide in the Shaolin temple who's bad English gave me a headache! He left me alone to eat once the food came so I took my time and left as the place closed at 10pm.
Back in the hotel I put the tv on and was surprised to see that Wigan vs West Ham was live on ESPN so I watched that before falling asleep.
Vientiane Hotels
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