Hello from Vietiane, Laos
Hello from Laos! Well, we made it safely and it is NICE to be back in SE Asia!
Overall, it's been a smooth ride, but we did have a setback on the way to laos. My travel mate did a fantastic job planning and crossing her t's when planning our travel itinerary from Thailand to Laos (which I left to someone else for once), but the train before ours derailed, causing our 10 hour, overnight train from Thailand to Laos to take a whopping 23 hours (compared to a one hour flight!). That being said, we did get a lot of reading and sleep in - and met some interesting people in the dining car on the way - so I would call the experience anything but lacking since we arrived. Due to the change in schedule, however, we're spending our remaining two days in Laos in Vietviane ("Viet - chan"), the capital city, before flying down to Cambodia to meet the rest of our PEPY group on Sunday morning. I can't wait to meet the group, but I'm also really happy to be here this weekend.
My first impression is that Laos (pronounced "Lao") is that it's certainly more laid-back than Thailand, for example, and while there are a lot of foreigners in this small capital city, it doesn't feel as tourity, either. The romantic charm of the French colonial era strongly mingles with the traditions and religions of the region and the sunny disposition of the lao people we have met is almost contagious. To give one example of how warmly we have been received, my friend and I took a side-trip (backroads on the tuk-tuk are a thrill!) to visit this crazy meadow filled with giant Budha statues an hour out of town today. By chance, we ended up spending several hours hanging out and talking with two monks our age who seemed like old friends after a short period of time and who wanted to exchange email addresses (yes, they had cell phones and email at the temple!) with us when we left. Even I was a little surprised by that one, but people are very open.
Other than that trip, we enjoyed a cup of the local joe and french pastries for breakfast, explored the morning market before hitting the main temples in the city early in the morning and ended the afternoon with enjoying a fruit shake and the sunset on the Mekong. While there are still a lot of underdeveloped areas (and I have heard the effects of all the bombs dropped during the 'Nam era can be seen in a lot of the rural areas - making them very different from the city - especially in the north), I know there is a LOT more beauty to this little country than the charm of the capital city and I am sorry that we won't get to explore it on this trip. The original plan was to go north to Viet Vien - about three hours by bus - for a day of tubing or else to doa safari with wild elephants, but given the train delay (and no water due to a bum toe for me/ new tattoo for my travel buddy), I guess we'll still happily take what we've got for this introduction.
Anyways, I should go but I will send further updates soon. This is just a quick check-in to say we've arrived safely and are having a fabulous time. There is a large french festival taking place along the Mekong River (in the center of town) with live music, performing artists (one woman was seriously singing french opera in a 40 foot long, blood-red dress while large peices of fruit danced around her hem last night!!), but in general, the town closes down at 11... the internet place is going to close and I need to run! Haha, we spent too long getting herbal massages (it's sooooo hard to type, I'm so relaxed right now!) and a quick haircut (got bangs!)...but, as promised, more later.
Until then, thanks for checking in and happy weekend :)
Overall, it's been a smooth ride, but we did have a setback on the way to laos. My travel mate did a fantastic job planning and crossing her t's when planning our travel itinerary from Thailand to Laos (which I left to someone else for once), but the train before ours derailed, causing our 10 hour, overnight train from Thailand to Laos to take a whopping 23 hours (compared to a one hour flight!). That being said, we did get a lot of reading and sleep in - and met some interesting people in the dining car on the way - so I would call the experience anything but lacking since we arrived. Due to the change in schedule, however, we're spending our remaining two days in Laos in Vietviane ("Viet - chan"), the capital city, before flying down to Cambodia to meet the rest of our PEPY group on Sunday morning. I can't wait to meet the group, but I'm also really happy to be here this weekend.
My first impression is that Laos (pronounced "Lao") is that it's certainly more laid-back than Thailand, for example, and while there are a lot of foreigners in this small capital city, it doesn't feel as tourity, either. The romantic charm of the French colonial era strongly mingles with the traditions and religions of the region and the sunny disposition of the lao people we have met is almost contagious. To give one example of how warmly we have been received, my friend and I took a side-trip (backroads on the tuk-tuk are a thrill!) to visit this crazy meadow filled with giant Budha statues an hour out of town today. By chance, we ended up spending several hours hanging out and talking with two monks our age who seemed like old friends after a short period of time and who wanted to exchange email addresses (yes, they had cell phones and email at the temple!) with us when we left. Even I was a little surprised by that one, but people are very open.
Other than that trip, we enjoyed a cup of the local joe and french pastries for breakfast, explored the morning market before hitting the main temples in the city early in the morning and ended the afternoon with enjoying a fruit shake and the sunset on the Mekong. While there are still a lot of underdeveloped areas (and I have heard the effects of all the bombs dropped during the 'Nam era can be seen in a lot of the rural areas - making them very different from the city - especially in the north), I know there is a LOT more beauty to this little country than the charm of the capital city and I am sorry that we won't get to explore it on this trip. The original plan was to go north to Viet Vien - about three hours by bus - for a day of tubing or else to doa safari with wild elephants, but given the train delay (and no water due to a bum toe for me/ new tattoo for my travel buddy), I guess we'll still happily take what we've got for this introduction.
Anyways, I should go but I will send further updates soon. This is just a quick check-in to say we've arrived safely and are having a fabulous time. There is a large french festival taking place along the Mekong River (in the center of town) with live music, performing artists (one woman was seriously singing french opera in a 40 foot long, blood-red dress while large peices of fruit danced around her hem last night!!), but in general, the town closes down at 11... the internet place is going to close and I need to run! Haha, we spent too long getting herbal massages (it's sooooo hard to type, I'm so relaxed right now!) and a quick haircut (got bangs!)...but, as promised, more later.
Until then, thanks for checking in and happy weekend :)
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 5:03 AM
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