Vientienne, Laos
2/1/2008
It's 5 AM here in Vientienne and
I'm hanging out on the balcony in front of my room at the Haysoke
Guesthouse. It's about 70 degrees out and absolutely perfect. I stayed
here before 2 years ago although it wasn't my first choice this time. I
tried to get a room at another place that had WiFi in the rooms but
they were all booked up. I tried to book in advance but I couldn't do
it online and I couldn't get through when I tried to call from Bangkok.
Oh well, this place is just fine, with it's shuttered windows and
wraparound balcony - very cozy for $15 a night. There is an internet
cafe next door where I can plug my laptop in with pretty decent speed.
I haven't tried uploading anything or using Skype - that's the real
test.
Got here after an 18 hour train ride from Bangkok. It was only supposed to take 12 hours, but in Thalland, as well as the rest of Asia, time is irrelevant - you get there when you get there. Tried to book a first class sleeper, but they were all booked up, so I had to settle for a second class sleeper which wasn't bad at all. After about 2 hours of riding, I climbed up into my bunk and went to sleep, figuring we'd be there when I woke up. Well, when I awoke the train was stopped at a station in a town called Chatturat, which wasn't on my map. It was about 7:30 AM and we were supposed to arrive in Nong Khai at 8:30. Figuring we were almost there, I got out, walked around, had some coffee. I had no idea how long we had been sitting there, but we finally left around 9 o'clock. After about an hour, they served breakfast - bacon & eggs w/ bread and coffee. We went thru a couple of other towns that weren't on the map. About 2 hours into the ride we came to a town that WAS on the map and now I found out that we had only gone about two thirds of the way. I was sitting across from a lady from New Haven, Connecticut who was about my age and has travelled to some of the same places I've been to. Needless to say, we had some great conversation as we watched the Thai countryside roll by. The rest of the ride went pretty quickly. We got to Nong Khai around 3 PM. She was staying there for a few days before heading up to Luang Prabang in Laos. I headed for the border.
From the train station, I took a tuk-tuk to the border for 20 baht - about 65 cents - took about 10 minutes. There I had to go through Thai customs and then hop on a bus across the Friendship Bridge over the Mekong River into Laos for another 20 baht. Once there I had to go through Lao Customs. All in all everything took about a half hour from the time I got off the train till I was inside Laos. It was still about 10 kiolmeters to Vientienne. Of course. I was surrounded by taxi drivers - they all wanted 200 baht (about $6), but I talked one down to 150 (about $4.50). I know I could have gotten a better price, but at that point, I just wanted to get to my hotel, so off we went.
Vientienne is a nice qiuet little town. It's very hard to believe that this is the capital of Laos. None of the usual crazyness or traffic of a capital city - right now there are a few people outside - a few shop owners getting ready for the day, the occasional car or motorbike passing by. Coming here is like stepping back in time. There are no supermarkets here, no McDonalds, 7-11, Starbucks - yet. I'm sure they'll make their way here soon enough and ruin the place. This is a Communist country that was closed to foreigners and western influences till a a few years ago. This place was a French Colony from the 18th century till 1953, so you can see the French influence everywhere. A lot of the older people speak French. There are a lot of little French cafes, streets have French names, a lot of old French colonial architechture. They have great bread and croissants here - lots of great bakeries - a pastry lover's delight.
Today, I'll be heading up to Vang Vieng, about a 3 hour bus ride north of here. I've been there before as well and it's definitely worth a return trip. So, now it's time to get some breakfast and then head to the bus station.
Stay tuned........
Got here after an 18 hour train ride from Bangkok. It was only supposed to take 12 hours, but in Thalland, as well as the rest of Asia, time is irrelevant - you get there when you get there. Tried to book a first class sleeper, but they were all booked up, so I had to settle for a second class sleeper which wasn't bad at all. After about 2 hours of riding, I climbed up into my bunk and went to sleep, figuring we'd be there when I woke up. Well, when I awoke the train was stopped at a station in a town called Chatturat, which wasn't on my map. It was about 7:30 AM and we were supposed to arrive in Nong Khai at 8:30. Figuring we were almost there, I got out, walked around, had some coffee. I had no idea how long we had been sitting there, but we finally left around 9 o'clock. After about an hour, they served breakfast - bacon & eggs w/ bread and coffee. We went thru a couple of other towns that weren't on the map. About 2 hours into the ride we came to a town that WAS on the map and now I found out that we had only gone about two thirds of the way. I was sitting across from a lady from New Haven, Connecticut who was about my age and has travelled to some of the same places I've been to. Needless to say, we had some great conversation as we watched the Thai countryside roll by. The rest of the ride went pretty quickly. We got to Nong Khai around 3 PM. She was staying there for a few days before heading up to Luang Prabang in Laos. I headed for the border.
From the train station, I took a tuk-tuk to the border for 20 baht - about 65 cents - took about 10 minutes. There I had to go through Thai customs and then hop on a bus across the Friendship Bridge over the Mekong River into Laos for another 20 baht. Once there I had to go through Lao Customs. All in all everything took about a half hour from the time I got off the train till I was inside Laos. It was still about 10 kiolmeters to Vientienne. Of course. I was surrounded by taxi drivers - they all wanted 200 baht (about $6), but I talked one down to 150 (about $4.50). I know I could have gotten a better price, but at that point, I just wanted to get to my hotel, so off we went.
Vientienne is a nice qiuet little town. It's very hard to believe that this is the capital of Laos. None of the usual crazyness or traffic of a capital city - right now there are a few people outside - a few shop owners getting ready for the day, the occasional car or motorbike passing by. Coming here is like stepping back in time. There are no supermarkets here, no McDonalds, 7-11, Starbucks - yet. I'm sure they'll make their way here soon enough and ruin the place. This is a Communist country that was closed to foreigners and western influences till a a few years ago. This place was a French Colony from the 18th century till 1953, so you can see the French influence everywhere. A lot of the older people speak French. There are a lot of little French cafes, streets have French names, a lot of old French colonial architechture. They have great bread and croissants here - lots of great bakeries - a pastry lover's delight.
Today, I'll be heading up to Vang Vieng, about a 3 hour bus ride north of here. I've been there before as well and it's definitely worth a return trip. So, now it's time to get some breakfast and then head to the bus station.
Stay tuned........