The following day, contrary to all my expectations, as the truck pulled up at our guesthouse, Ollie was already on board - in body certainly, but the spirit was lacking - 4 days of Vang Vieng had really taken it out of him, added to which he was suffering from a bug that he’d had in Luang Prabang that had just been masked by alcohol for the preceding few days. Pete wasn’t in much better shape - too much beer and baguette had taken it’s toll.
So kayaking was obviously the activity of choice for the day.
Hmmmm.
It was actually fantastic, despite the ill-health of my companions - we ended up kayaking down a mini rapid without capsizing, which was a bit of an achievement, given I’ve managed to capsize a wooden double scull on the Thames before.
The scenery was phenomenal, the weather was glorious, the food the guide rustled up (beef kebabs today) was fantastic, and the kayaking was aided by a forgiving current. I really enjoyed the experience.
As we headed into Vientiane on our Songthaew we saw plenty of Laos life - a wedding, loads of villages, and lots of locals jumped into our truck too - it was a great way to travel to the capital.
After leaving the two ruined ones to recover with a cold drink, I headed off to find ourselves somewhere to stay - Vientiane is actually really short of beds, so it took some time, but we ended up at the Youth Inn which I thought was quite optimistically titled for us 3. It turned out to be the same place as Inge & Oystein from Vang Vieng were staying.
In the evening we strolled down to the river Mekong - the river acts as a natural border to Thailand - it seemed strange to be so close. Loads of restaurants are strung along the river bank, and we settled down to order a smorgasbord of Laos dishes, which were really great. Our soundtrack was some 90s rock classics - a few tracks by German rockers The Scorpions (remember Wind of Change’?) and a fabulous Thai rock band with ENORMOUS hair and make up who were really wild and crazy cos they kept throwing themselves on the floor. Brilliant.
Following day, Ollie still wasn’t well, but gamely decided to join us on a walking tour of Vientiane. Agaainst my better judgement, Pete put himself in charge of the Lonely Planet (I mean, he’s my BABY brother - imagine what a mess he could make of it).
Lots of people say that Vientiane’s dull, but I really liked it - it has a heavy French influence - even down to a replica Arc du Triomphe and Champs-Elysee (love the story of the Triumphal arch - America donated some concrete to build a new airport. They decided to build a monument instead, got a bit fed up part way through, so it was never finished and has now been dubbed the Concrete Monster. Brilliant.)
After only getting lost a few times, we finished the circuit, then energetically decided to jump in a tuk-tuk and head to a Wat in the forest that reputedly had a herbal sauna and massage centre in the grounds.
After getting hopelessly lost (but hearing some haunting Buddhist chanting) we found the sauna and got into our sarongs to go for the burn. I think I lasted about 15 minutes which I was pretty impressed with, the boys slightly longer. After a reviving green tea, it was time for the massage.
This was one of my magical experiences - having a great massage, as the sun sets, hearing monks chanting in the background. Gorgeous. Only occasionally broken by hearing most of Ollie’s bones crack into place.
The massage having made Ollie feel a bit better, we decided to celebrate Pete’s last night by heading to one of Vientiane’s famed French restaurants - Les Cave des Chateaux. It was great - we had white AND red wine, and I had goats cheese for started and Roquefort sauce with my steak. Ollie finally tried his buffalo, and Pete had duck. Not a noodle or tub of stick rice in sight. Heaven.
After a morning of admin, we decided to have a quick trip to Phat Luang - the Laos national monument - it’s very bling - huge expanses of gold everywhere (unlike rich neighbour Thailand however, this is just gold paint rather than the real thing) and a massive car park for some reason.
We ended up having to run back to the tuk-tuk after a slight timing error, and Pete had to jump onto a moto to catch up with his bus to the border. It felt sad to see my little brother go. Ollie headed to the docs to get some Asian Wonder Drugs ä followed by a nap, whilst I went to a salon for a quick hair straighten & pedicure. Lovely.
We ended up gassing in our room for hours (I know, no surprise there) that evening, with our repeated ‘we should go out for dinner in a minute’ attempts completely failing until 11.30pm, when we had to resort to a pancake from a street vendor. This was to set the nutritious tone for our next few days - the Journey to the South.
