Back in Vientiane (after 20 years)

We made it to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, after an 11-hour trip on a local bus south from Luang Prabang.  It was a long journey, but not as bad as it could have been.  The bus was air-conditioned and fairly comfortable, but two of our three seats were in the very last row where five people sit  shoulder to shoulder, and that row has the biggest bounce for the money when the bus goes over a bump.  The scenery (alas through dirty windows, so no pictures) was amazing.  The mountains we navigated were steep and at times surreal, like tall, thick melted candles scattered across a table after a long night's party.  The bus zigzagged up and around these obstructions, and we were given a direct view of life in rural habitations.  Most kids (4-12 years old) were out gathering some sort of wheat-like plant, cutting it, thrashing it on the side of the road, and lining it up in long rows to dry.  Other kids were gathering wood.  Toddlers stumbled about a few feet from the passing bus.  The houses were mostly thatched.  Ironically, while the areas around the houses are clean -- swept, with neat piles of wood - trash blows everywhere and noone seems to pick it up.  The villages needed a good Green Up Day.  It looked like in a few hours a handful of people could clean an entire village of blowing trash.  But perhaps more would come, so they don't.

The bus stopped three times - twice for a bathroom break (with all the men running for the nearest bush, and all the women paying 1,000 kip for a stall) and once a lunch break. A plain but tasty meal of rice, veggies, and meat/gristle was plopped on a plate -- included in the bus price of $15 / person for the 11-hour trip.

The bus dropped us off 10 km outside Vientiane.  We piled into a Tuk Tuk with 8 other folks and navigated through thick,  smoke-belching traffic.  I visited Vientiane exactly 20 years ago this month and then  it was a sleepy, forgotten town with almost no outside visitors.  I left after a couple of days because after seeing the local Wats and a few wandering dogs there was nothing to do.  This time we'll leave after a couple of days because it has become a big, bustling city with too much going on.  It feels like a Laotian version of Hanoi.  Thanks to our friend Perri Black's recommendation, we found a quiet guesthouse down an alley next to a Wat.  It was a big relief because the streets seemed so noisy when we arrived at 8 pm.  After a revivifying shower we had a nice dinner at a Lao/Indian/Western restaurant, watched some 'football' on TV, and crashed.  Today we'll explore the city, at 4 pm Jesse and I will walk to the National Stadium with our ball to see if we can join a game, and then we'll look for a man we've heard about  with a stall on the riverside who is said to serve up some amazing Indian food for dinner.  Saabaidee!  Duncan