Cooling down in the Capital, Vientiane

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Cooling down at the Settha Palace Hotel pool.

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On to the capital of Laos, Vientiane! We opted for the mini bus from Vang Vieng to Vientiane, as we chose poorly with the V.I.P bus last trip! It picked us up at 9 AM right at our guesthouse, so it was much easier than lugging bags to the bus station. They do still load the people in the mini buses , but they are much better for traveling on windy roads.

Sweaty and sticky, "I am sweating profusely" has now become Kevin's number one used phrase, we arrived in the capital. It seems to be about as big as Luang Prabang (which is not that big) but the buildings aren't as beautiful and there doesn't seem to be as much going on. We hadn't booked a room, so we had our tuk-tuk take us to some places around town. We stopped at a really nice place that was way overcharging, with a pool.... ahhhhhh, glorious pool (we would be back for that one)! The place that all our friends were staying at was booked, so we ended up at a little hole in the wall called Lani Guesthouse, which was clean and comfortable enough. Then, straight to the pool! I was a little embarrassed we were avoiding the culture at first and heading to a nice hotel pool, but not as bad anymore when the first people we see sitting poolside with fruit cocktails was Odeke and Peter! The day was well spent - you just need a nice cool pool and some fruit shakes sometimes, especially when it's usually a daily occurrence in Miami and you've been sweaty and traveling non-stop for a month.

Hey Holly, "strike a pose"

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Odeke and Peter were heading off March 5th for Chiang Mai (this was our good-bye!) so we met up for dinner in the square of Vientiane at a two-story  restaurant (we can't remember the name of). Good food, tried Lao-gria (kinda like Sangri, but apparently with whiskey and pretty strong) and closed the place down. Met up with Kelly and Ryan and asked some locals about some late-night dance clubs. There was one that the tuk-tuk knew about. He took us out to this huge fancy hotel away from town (there didn't seem to be a nightclub in sight). After getting through security (sign had pictures of NO flip flops, NO guns - interesting) and the bouncers that kind of looked as us funny, possibly wondering why we wanted to come here, we headed for a table outside of the club, towards the back. It was an interesting scene. TONS of Lao girls outnumbering a few farang (Western people) guys. Kevin and I headed to look for the bathroom. After the 11th "VIP Room" we walked past looking for the bathroom door, we realized  the little "nightclub" we were in was a pretty happening brothel. Oh, and the bathroom, it was outside far far away from the VIP rooms.  People-watching from our table outside was eye-opening, to say the least. Lao girls and Western guys (old, young, alone, some drugged out) were pouring out of the back entrance all night - it was the ultimate "walk of shame," mainly for the Western guys because the Lao women are absolutely unapolagetic about prostitution here - it's a way of life, and I'm thinking these girls get paid a lot more than any otherjob for women here.

Courtyard in front of the Wat That Luang.

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We spent our second day, walking the streets of Vientiane, checking out the city and buying our tickets to Hanoi. We're leaving the afternoon of March 6th on Vietnam Airways on our Fokker 70 twin-engine prop plane (eek!) to Hanoi, Vietnam. We're very excited about a new country, especially Vietnam with all of its history. I'm dying to check out "The Tailor Capital of the World" and design some clothes. I'm going to pretend to be a fashion design major (I do know a few things about fabrics), so we don't get scammed.

We were heading to a French place for dinner (a lot of French influence in Vientiane, like Luang Prabang), but got led by temptation to a Japanese restaurant across the street called Fujiara (or something like that), which was very good! They did not have a dessert menu,  so when I was asking about bananas tempura (which they did not have), the manager started writing down the recipe for it and asking if I had any other ideas that they could add to their menu. It was kind of fun explaining things they could add - the manager seemed pretty excited too. They are so cute here. All the Lao men really study you and then ask, "Where you come from?" (like you're an alien from Mars) before paying a compliment. I never know what they are going to say, but it usually ends up something nice. I told him I was from the United States and he thought I was in the movies. Haha. The Thai culture is much more talkative and smily than the Lao people, but they definitely do have their own personal charms, in a quiet, very humble way.

Patuxai Arch, which is the Laos version of Paris' Arc De Triumph, was built in the 1960's with cement that was supplied by the USA for a runway, giving it the nickname "vertical runway."

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We had our first (and last, for this trip) Lao massage. We finally mustered up the strength to go back to massage parlours after being man-handled in Thailand - those Thai massages can be brutal! Have to say the Lao massage is VERY pleasant, so we're on again for massages. :)

Spending our last day here before we embark on our flight to Hanoi (motorbike dodging here we come!!!!) taking a tuk-tuk around to some monuments and the day market. We visited the most important temple (and a national symbol) in Laos, Pha That Luang. Pretty basic, gold - check out the pictures - but you can't go inside it - then on to the Patuxai Arch. We had a nice meal  ("sweating profusely") on  the outside patio of a lovely little French cafe and in an hour we'll be heading to the airport to say an exhausted, "Goodnight, Vietnam!"