We have been a-Lao-ed into our next country!!

Trip Start Jun 11, 2008
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Trip End May 14, 2009

Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep  ,
Wednesday, August 27, 2008

After breakfast in the hotel we decided to leave early for the airport. This was because Donna & Peter were also going to the airport today and by sharing a car it made it a lot cheaper - 50% cheaper actually - see how I worked that out all by myself! Cap 1 are bound to want me back with quick fire calculations like that!! Anyway, this got us to the airport 3 hours before our flight, so we just hung around waiting to board. There is not much to do at the airport so I just tried to enter as many restricted areas as possible without getting arrested - you would be surprised how easy it is to just go anywhere in this airport!!

Then the moment of hysteria hit us as we boarded what can only be described as a comedy plane! This thing has no place in an airport, it should be in Disney World or Alton Towers. However, this was our transport to Laos, so we neeed to board it. I kept looking around the runway to see if there was a big cannon that they were going to fire the plane out of, but I was unable to detect any such device. I can only imagine that the pilot actually stays in the airport and flies the plane with a radio control device from the ground! He better be good at twiggling his joystick!!

Once on the plane, things didn't really improve. The safety speech that they normally do, consisted of a guy showing you how to fasten your seatbelt and.....well, that's it really. He couldn't be bothered to tell us the rest and so just indicated that we should read the safety card in front of us! This did not reduce our concerns because when we looked to see where the life jackets were, the card actually said that there are no life jackets so if we land in water we should, and I quote "make use of the seat cushions"!! What? So as we plummet into a lake or ocean, we should not actually gt into the crash position, we should actually start ripping each others seats to bits to try and obtain the most cushions to float on!!

It was at this stage that Lorna was just starting to get a little worried as we tried to take off. Comedy plane that took us to Laos
Comedy plane that took us to Laos
 The engines didn't sound at their best and it seemed like the batteries in the radio control device wee running low as we bounced our wayinto the air! Lorna was just about to ask to get off the plane, when all of a sudden one of the crew played their trump card......they brought out some food!! The whole plane issue was immediately forgotten as a large cheesey grin appeared on Lorna's face - we hadn't expected to be fed on this flight as it was only about an hour long. (With the state of the plane and the off, the flight might only have been 10 minutes long!!). So this took our minds off things for a short time.

As it happens, the landing in Laos wasn't that bad, although stopping the plane seemed to have been a bit of an issue for the pilot. I am sure we circled the airport buildings a couple of times after landing as he tried to slow the plane down. I was expecting an announcement over the radio asking us all to do a Flinstones and drag our feet on the ground to help it stop!! We should have known better though really as it does say in the Lonely Planet that Laos Airlines don't actually make their safety record public, so no-one really knows how safe they are - or aren't! Iteven says that Western companies advise their staff NOT to use this airline company! I told Lorna about this just after take-off......

When w got out the airport in Laos, we jumped into a Tuk Tuk and headed to the Dragon Lodge in Vientiane. Adam, who was with us in Vietnam, said he had stopped here and it was OK. The place was a little shabby, but all in all not bad for the money. We did have to swap rooms after the first night as the air con was pants, but it wasn't a major issue.

By the time we had checked in and got sorted it was about 7pm, so we headed out for some grub. We felt like an Indian again so we headed off to the one recommended by the LP calle the Taj Mahal. The curry was lovely, especially my Chicken Chilli Balti! I also consumed my first Beer Lao here. I actually had two of the big bottles (640ml each) but when the bill came, they only charged me for one! Welcome to Laos Mr & Mrs Vickers!

We then headed round to a bar neer our guesthouse called the Xayoh cafe. More beer Lao was consumed and the menu actually looked quite good, so we will probably come hre to eat tomorrow night. We are going to stop in Vientiane for two nights so we have time for a walk round tomorrow. There's not much here, but we don't want to just leave without at least having a little look around.
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