The last of Laos
I spent three days in Vientiane, the capitol of Laos, which was just the right amount of time. Two would probably have been fine; there wasn't much to see and it wasn't as pastorally post-colonial pleasant as Lunag Prabang.
However, I had a great time. My first morning there I met some older gentlemen, two Aussies and a Canadian who were there to secure some mining contracts. They invited me to dinner that night, and I think it was the best meal I've had since I left NYC. Carpaccio, homemade fresh mozzarella, beautifully prepared duck, wine like velvet. A real treat!
The next day I went sightseeing with Chris while his brother and the Canadian were in meetings with a prime minister or something. We saw several monuments, including a four-sided arch. The highlight for me was Buddha Park, about a 40 minute ride outside of town. It was created about in the late 1960's, full of traditional and post-modern statues. My favorite was a giant round thing you could go inside with three stories representing hell, earth, and heaven, like a 3-D mandala.
Yesterday I took an overnight train back to Bangkok, where I am staying for one night in a cheap guesthouse straight out of The Beach. I'm flying to Singapore tomorrow though, and scouted out a better place to stay when I get back to Bangkok on Monday.
Overall, I really liked Laos. People say it's like Thailand was 15 years ago, though one of the things I like about Thailand is its infrastructure, such a welcome change after India (municipal trash collection! really!). It's supposed to be a lot cheaper outside of the cities I went to; it's an extremely poor country. With that comes some heavy stuff, of course: it's the most heavily bombed country in the world, full of unexploded bombs and a really depressing amount of ongoing slash and burn agriculture.
But the people are very chill, and I loved the French influence, especially over food. Officially it's Laos, P.D.R., but everyone jokes that the acronym refers not to the Communist Party, but Please Don't Rush. Maybe it's the oppressive humidity, but nothing happens quickly there. Except my visit: I just had ten days. I suspect I'll be back to this area again though, I still need to see Cambodia and Vietnam.