To the capital of Laos
Got up early to catch the morning bus to Vientienne (which is the capital of Laos) and was very happy to find that the bus was in much more modern one that the previous ones I’ve experienced. Six hours later I was there and myself, Don and Rebecca had the pleasure of meeting a really nice Tuck-Tuck driver who took us around the town and dropped us off at the hotel.
Walked around town for a couple of hours and realized that most of the stores and restaurants were closed since it was Sunday…bummer. Eventually found a nice place to eat and then headed off to the Laos National Museum which was a pretty interesting place. It started off with an historical aspect with artifacts but turned into a big propaganda machine the further it went. In the end it was all about how Laos had struggled against the American imperialists and their puppets (their exact words, not mine) and I just thought it turned into a joke.
Got out and went down to the Scandinavian bakery which pretty much was exactly like a bakery in Sweden, they even had snus. Had a nice Ice latte and a cinnamon roll while I thought about how weird it all was to be sitting in the middle of Laos with a Swedish flag next to me.
Walked around for a while checking out some of the stores that were open and then went for some more food and beers before hitting the sack.
Woke up early since Don and Rebecca had the foresight of pre-arranging a rendezvous with Tom the tuck-Tuck driver which had agreed to drive us around a couple of temples for a small fee.
Came to the first one (just forgot the name but I’ll fill it in later) and took half an hour before I got templed out and went to the second one where I went for a great massage. Don and Rebecca went for a sauna as well but I felt slightly hung-over and thought I would shrivel up into nothingness if I went for that one as well and instead opted to chill out with a soda pop outside.
Were driven back into the center and had lunch and then checked out the shops for a while. Were shown how the Laos women wove the silk fabrics which can take all a day up to weeks and was happy that I had bought some in Luang Prabang where it was considerably cheaper. Since I was quite tired after all the massage and bone cracking and decided to go for a kip for a couple of hours before meeting up for dinner. Watched “From Russia with Love” which seemed appropriate for communist Laos and then had a quick shower before dinner where I said goodbye to Don and Rebecca (who were taking the early bus to Thailand the following morning).
I’m flying out to Hanoi and Vietnam tomorrow. More updates soon.
Walked around town for a couple of hours and realized that most of the stores and restaurants were closed since it was Sunday…bummer. Eventually found a nice place to eat and then headed off to the Laos National Museum which was a pretty interesting place. It started off with an historical aspect with artifacts but turned into a big propaganda machine the further it went. In the end it was all about how Laos had struggled against the American imperialists and their puppets (their exact words, not mine) and I just thought it turned into a joke.
Got out and went down to the Scandinavian bakery which pretty much was exactly like a bakery in Sweden, they even had snus. Had a nice Ice latte and a cinnamon roll while I thought about how weird it all was to be sitting in the middle of Laos with a Swedish flag next to me.
Walked around for a while checking out some of the stores that were open and then went for some more food and beers before hitting the sack.
Woke up early since Don and Rebecca had the foresight of pre-arranging a rendezvous with Tom the tuck-Tuck driver which had agreed to drive us around a couple of temples for a small fee.
Came to the first one (just forgot the name but I’ll fill it in later) and took half an hour before I got templed out and went to the second one where I went for a great massage. Don and Rebecca went for a sauna as well but I felt slightly hung-over and thought I would shrivel up into nothingness if I went for that one as well and instead opted to chill out with a soda pop outside.
Were driven back into the center and had lunch and then checked out the shops for a while. Were shown how the Laos women wove the silk fabrics which can take all a day up to weeks and was happy that I had bought some in Luang Prabang where it was considerably cheaper. Since I was quite tired after all the massage and bone cracking and decided to go for a kip for a couple of hours before meeting up for dinner. Watched “From Russia with Love” which seemed appropriate for communist Laos and then had a quick shower before dinner where I said goodbye to Don and Rebecca (who were taking the early bus to Thailand the following morning).
I’m flying out to Hanoi and Vietnam tomorrow. More updates soon.
posted by Tobias | 7:45 am
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