I arrived in Vientiane after dark, and promptly decided that this was not a good idea (and really just an invitation to be ripped off by taxi drivers) so I will probably forego the night-arrival in the future. I hailed a questionable-looking tuk tuk, and handed the driver a scrap of paper with an "address" for my cousin Laura's house. The address, which was really more of a map, read: "Laura's House." Okay, that's ... a good start. The map only indicated cross streets, so I ended up wandering a good while along barely-lit streets in a Laos suburb until a local restaurant owner took pity on me and studied the map for a good twenty minutes -- alongside her entire extended family which probably included half of the city's population -- until she finally figured out where I needed to be and kindly walked me there. Say what you will about the lack of punctuality or the state of the roads in Laos, but the people are wonderful.
I spent a rather uneventful two days in Vientiane admiring the French Colonial architecture through the beads of sweat dripping in my eyes. The Buddha Park was also nice ... in theory. Situated 24 kms south east of the city, the Buddha Park houses approximately 200 Buddhist and religious images dating back over 500 years, most of which were introduced from India. Had I not been nearly melting from the heat (true story), I might have enjoyed it a tad more.
Highlights of my visit to Vientiane:
- seeing my cousin (and generous hostess) Laura
- finally having an ATM card again
- finding out the results of the 2008 Presidential Election
- using a western toilet
1 comment:
23 days later, you find out who won the election?! I would have shot myself waiting that long.
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