Well…..not really! Vientiane is more like a sleepy little town that somehow still seems to have it all. Laos overall is so laid back it’s horizontal. It’s a mix of French architecture - it seems that all the French left other than the style of some of the buildings, are the signs on the street and the names of the administrations and bread, there is bread everywhere – luscious vegetation, temple after temple and always an omnipresent river.
I like Vientiane, really like it. No one I have met who has come here has a very nice word to say about it, maybe because at the moment the main streets are gutted from construction work. I find it soothing akin to sitting in a rocking chair with a cool drink looking at the beautiful view.
It has a presidential palace, an arc de triomphe and very old temples. It has riverside restaurants, well more like riverside vendors with tables, chairs and some decks with carpets and cushions where you can sit cross-legged and eat. I am sitting under the stars, by the river. The moon is very bright and still only a crescent. I have just been served a big basket of vegetables and meat and a machine where I am supposed to grill my meets and boil my veggies and noodles to make soup. A small plate with chopped garlic, lime and chillies comes with that and a sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds. Can’t wait. Lao Barbecue!
It’s very hot but not too sticky, this time of year it is much much stickier in Guangzhou. Still, it’s very hot. I just thought of something, it’s been bothering me a while, like something is wrong with the picture. It just registered with me that there are no cars in Laos. I mean, there are cars but once in a blue moon, even in the capital. We travelled for 6 hours from Luang Prapang to Vang Vieng – which by the way is a 380km drive – and I think we may have seen 3 cars along the way. There is no traffic, no car noise, no honking. Occasionally a car does drive past but the intervals are very spaced out. No wonder everyone is so relaxed. This is one of the most underdeveloped places in the world and yet there is no misery. Locals go out in the restaurants for dinner, kids mostly play and study – I have seen a few carry loads and try and sell things but they are not the norm - everywhere there is construction work going on and I mean private homes not big state funded projects, minority populations like the highland Hmong are catered for. Not easy but not sad. Heading for the South soon. An area which is less developed and less touristy. I didn’t know that would be possible. I guess I still have a lot to learn.
