Vientianne

An 8 hour, difficult bus ride from Luang Prabang (I've since learnt that the westerners living here all fly to avoid the trip) brought us to Vientiane. For the first 4 hours of the ride we were in the mountains of central Lao, twisting and turning to avoid a gradient. It was a bad sign when the bus-staff handed out sickness bags, and shortly after departure several people on the bus began to make room for lunch. At the lunch stop several more dashed from the bus to the nearest bush. Yours truly felt queasy enough not to eat lunch, but otherwise made it through ok.

Vientiane occupied our next few days, including taking in the major sights through a leisurely 2 hour bike ride, catching up with friends, and Claire did a one-day dying & weaving course at a local women's training centre. Vientiane's small, restaurant filled and reminds me most of Mornington (less the yuppie factor). I still find it odd to look across the Maekhong to see an unimportant Thai city that seems bigger and more 'developed' - if shopping malls and cinemas are the judgment measure. As I'd been to Vientiane before this part of the trip was mostly about catching up with a friend, and Claire really enjoyed the weaving.

Over the weekend a couple of friends, Claire & I traveled to Ban Pako eco-lodge in a park a few hours from Vientiane by tuk-tuk & boat. It was great to push back beside the river, have a few beers and watch the old-growth forest not be logged. We even got a massive lightning storm to provide a light show.


The eco-lodge was also hosting a meeting for Lao forestry students, about 100, who slept in tents during the storm. That didn't stop them being up at 5am, singing, playing drums and guitars, and generally getting very excited whilst they waited for their bus. We had an excellent seat for the concert as the bus-stop seemed to be right outside our room.