Don's Road Less Traveled: Tired Legs and My Last Day in Vientiane

Hey All,

First a shout-out to Jeremy and Valerie and my 4 precious grandkids, Lydia, Jethro, Vivian, Jarvis and due in about a month Violette. They are at my house while I am here, oh the best laid plans.

The night before last after I sent the blog out, I decided to go soak my legs in the pool. I really did a lot of walking yesterday. Sharing the pool was this couple with 4 kids from 4-14. I cannot even imagine traveling across SE Asia with 4 kids that age. God Bless Them. I think he was American, but she was Australian by the accent. They were asking about crossing the border into Thailand and I was filling them in. They had come from Luang Prabang and asked if I was going that way. I told them I had been there 7 years ago and after hearing how things are now, I cam glad I did it them, seems the charm is about gone. I told them I was still debating going north, or south to Pakse. Without hesitation they both said go south, they had done that years ago and felt it was still a worthwhile trip. Even going to bed last night I was still wrestling with it.

UXO LAO is a UN agency working to find unexploded ordinance from the Vietnam War dropped on Laos.

I was up early again, and after breakfast headed to one of the travel places around the hotel. The nice thing about staying on a street with lots of hostels and backpackers, there are usually a plentiful supply of travel people to help with bus tickets and such to your next destination. At breakfast, I decided to go with my gut feeling and head to Pakse. I discussed with the travel lady my options of overnight sleeping bus or plane ticket. Both had pros and cons, the bus from what I read is not comfortable and you have to share a sleeping berth. Not only that but it goes against everything I have ever been told about traveling in Asia: NEVER EVER TRAVEL AT NIGHT. The roads are bad and dangerous, and the drivers usually never get enough sleep. The air option, while sounding the best, is more expensive, and its on Lao Airlines, which has a notoriously suspicious safety record. Seems just a little over a year ago one of their plans crashed into the Mekong River flying to Pakse. I think they are better than they used to be, when stories about wheels falling off the airplanes after they took off. Push come to shove, I chose the 1 hour flight tomorrow at 10:30 am. Please keep me in your prayers.

I emailed a hotel in Pakse I heard good things about and they have openings, so I know where I will go on arrival.

Found this cool house near my hotel, I shall call it Lemon House

With that business out of the way, I took off again on another exploratory trip to see what I could discover. I had my handy dandy map provided by the Lao Tourism Authority and felt confident. I heard there was a brand new Mall here and wanted to see what that was like, and of course its air conditioned. As I was walking I did note several things to discuss with you. First is just how many Coffee Shops there are in Nong Khai and here. They are everywhere and not a single Starbucks. This area of the world has gone coffee crazy. Second, motorbikes here rule the road, and sidewalk. You have to be so careful walking because bikes will use the sidewalk when they can, and drive through the middle of parks and such. You have to be aware of your surroundings all the time or they will sneak up behind you and put you in a world of hurt.

Street Food by Hotel

While following my map, I was crossing a small road and when I looked to my left, there was this really old stupa. Its on a roundabout, and the grounds are not kept up well, and trash was everywhere and it made me think they don't care much about this, which is surprising. There was not a sign anywhere saying anything about it, and it was not even mentioned on the map. I had no idea what it was and when I got back to the hotel later, I showed the picture to the lady at the desk and she wrote down That Dam, of course me, I said "That Dam What"? She did not get the irony and thought I was calling it a Wat, which is the word for Temple in Khmer. She said "no wat, stupa" I could easily have gone all day with this but, I looked it up and read this:

Sitting at the centre of a quiet roundabout near the centre of Vientiane, legend has it that the stupa now known as That Dam was once coated in a layer of gold. The gold is said to have been carted off by the Siamese during their pillaging of 1828, after which the stupa took the ‘black’ sobriquet in memory of the dastardly act. However, another myth is slightly at odds with this. It says That Dam is the abode of a dormant seven-headed dragon that came to life during the 1828 Siamese–Lao war and protected local citizens, though apparently not the stupa’s gold…

That Dam

After admiring the unknown Stupa, I proceeded on my walk. I found the mall by the Southern Bus station which is on the north end of town. This map has me all confused. According to the map, the northern bus station is on the western part of town. Be that as it may, the mall was a BUST. The place is a giant waste of money to try to spruce up the city. Even though it was fun watching some old lady making her first attempt at an escalator. She was petrified of it, and when it got to the top she had no idea what to do and almost fell. Outside of the mall was an area all set up with yellow tents, and people cooking and selling stuff. I meandered about, and then noticed a big sign that said it was the 2nd Annual Vegetarian Festival. Needless to say, I did not hang around.

The Worst Mall Ever

Vegitarian Festival

The more I walked the more I realized that map was bad and no help at all, so quickly deposited it in a nice receptacle. I can do better on my own. I headed towards the river front to visit some big statue I had seen from afar the other day. It was a long walk and the heat was brutal today. After walking a lot yesterday, but legs were aching. I made a couple of rest stops but soon saw the statue and made my way. Its some ancient military guy either gesturing, this is where we will build a city, or telling Thailand, this is were I draw the line in the sand. I did not feel it was worth the effort to google it later.

Not sure what he is pointing at but he looks serious

I found an air conditioned smoothie shop and could have camped out there all afternoon. Near by, since it was way after lunch, I found a lady grilling sausage on a stick and it smelled wonderful. I had one and it was as advertised.

It was a long way back to the hotel, so I hailed a tuk tuk and went home. I had to rest a bit as the heat and humidity was taking a severe toll on me.

Around 6 I headed out looking for food, and found a place with rice and chicken which sounded simple but good. It was busy so that is always a good sign. You are given a host of items to dress it up as you like, some were interesting, if not gross smelling. I think the fermented fish stuff just does not agree with me. I chose more of a soy with chilies.

Street chaos around the Southern Bus station at the north end of town

The advil had kicked in and decided to take a stroll in a direction I had not gone yet, since I was leaving in the AM. It was almost dark so I carefully remember my landmarks to get back. I was not seeing a lot, when I noticed what I thought was the word Bowling. I said it cant be, and went to investigate. I found the Lao Bowling Center, JACKPOT! Its really hidden away and you could easily miss it. You would never notice if you were riding in a tuk tuk, would pass by too quick. OMG this place was so cool, there were 10 lanes I think, and people were laughing and bowling in their bare feet. From what I saw, bowling is a new thing to the Laotians, they are TERRIBLE, but I don't think they care. I was there maybe 5 minutes when I started to get this queezy rumbling in my stomach, then felt kinda faint, and the first thing that I thought about was that Sausage on stick, please don't make me sick. I thought I better get a tuk tuk right away. I hated to leave this place, such a good find.

I got back to the hotel,, and was not feeling well. I laid down and in about 30 minutes in the cool air, it passed and was fine. I think it was the heat catching up to me again.

Well, enough for tonight, need to rest for sure, and take some advil for my aching legs.

Wanted to address another email: This is addressing the black carryall that I had on in the pic yesterday. I carry it all the time, as it has my money, glasses, cameras, and sorted other items. I have had it for about 4 years now and love it. NO, ITS NOT A MAN PURSE!! Its European.

Keep the questions and comments coming.

P.S. I tried to sent this blog out last night, but the internet failed me. So this AM I am at breakfast and seems to be working now for another try. I have leave for the airport in 45 minutes, so going to rush this trough. Not sure how many pictures I will be able to get downloaded. Thanks for your patience. :)

Happy Travels,

Don