Sahbyedee (hello in Laos). We had an 11 hour VIP bus trip today which absolutely fried my brain. We ran out of books to read a few days ago and have yet to replace them, so the trip was quite unproductive. We finally made it to the capitol Vientiane, found an overpriced room ($15USD for the two of us, more than we've paid yet the entire trip), and grabbed a bite to eat. We have tomorrow to bum around, then we're heading to the US Embassy on Monday for the passport.
So tidbits I thought of on the bus ride. Fruit shakes are awesome. We've had a few, though not many. Definitely a treat on a hot day.
We've acclimated to the time change. Most days, we wake up between 5-6am with the roosters crowing, then head to bed around 9pm (unless we're on the Internet). We have yet to use an alarm clock. Morning is the best time of day. It's quiet. Most tourists are sleeping in. We usually get up, go for a walk around 7am, then grab a light breakfast. Laos loves baguettes. I usually have a jam and butter baguette for breakfast with a cup of tea.
There is definitely a lingering French influence in the region, not only with the cuisine but with the architecture as well. Photos to follow in a few days.
Riding bicycles is so far my favorite thing to do. We've rented bicycles in Huay Xia and Luang Prabang, riding around the city for a few hours. It's a great way to see the different neighborhoods, rural and urban, while staying relatively cool. Definitely need more sunblock though, I burned my shoulder-blades to a crisp 2 days ago.
Curfew is at 11:30pm and the place shuts down fairly quickly. The other night, I went out drinking with some fellow travelers and we ran into armed guards on our way back to the guest house. It was a bit frightening, but they let us go after a quick explanation from the tuk tuk driver.
That's about all I have at the moment. I'm going to work on transferring photos in the next few days, so look for a post about Gibbon and other exciting (or not so exciting) adventures soon.
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2 comments:
Very cool. Good luck with the passport stuff.
Good luck with the passport stuff. I had my last passport done in Vientiane and it was very quick.
There are a lot of good used book stores around town - Raintree's, across from Lao Airlines ticket office, another near the US Embassy (can't remember the name) and the Book Cafe in China town (a short walk from the cultural hall). There are good book exchanges at Full Moon and Sticky Fingers; both places have good food.
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