M The ride to Vientiane was an unpleasant one as we had been scammed. The VIP bus we paid for which was to have AC, free water, etc. just like our last VIP bus, turned out to be a mini van with no AC. It was full of other tourists who were also told they would be getting a VIP bus, some who were told they would be transferring after getting picked up by a minivan and taken to the bus station. It was incredibly hot that day, the temperature outside hit mid 30's, and I have no idea what it was inside the cramped van. But we all survived and the driver, who claimed the VIP bus was full, dropped us off in the center of Vientiane, Laos' capital. Safe and sound.
We got a tuk-tuk to drive us around until we found an affordable guest house to stay at. We refused to pay $20, knowing by this point that we could get a decent double room for $15. After getting settled in our guest house we went for a walk to discover the area. We heard live music coming from the waterfront which was just down the street from our gust house (RD house). It turned out to be a fair! This fair was going on for a week and we arrived on what was the first day of the Mekong Festival. There were people selling ice-cream and other goodies such as the ever popular fried crickets, which we just could not bring ourselves to eat. There was an air-filled jumping house for kids, the classic pop the balloons with darts game, which Jes played and won a bottle of imitation red bull, and of course a stage with a DJ pumping out the music. The dance floor was virtually full of tourists dancing while groups of Lao people stood around the perimeter watching; they appeared mesmerized. I guess that is what the Dutch guy in Vang Vien was talking about when he said watching how westerners act when they are partying is like watching TV for the Lao people. lol
One of the highlights of Vientiane was going to the national museum (no pictures allowed, sorry). We learned the Lao side of the story about the French colonization, the Indo-China war, and the Vietnam war. This little country has really been through a lot. It made us feel quite sick and angry, particularly the section of the Museum on the Vietnam war. On one hand I felt proud to be Canadian, but still ashamed to be a westerner. Our world view has been changing and expanding on this trip, but I think this was pretty huge, for me anyways, coming in about second place after seeing Auschwitz. When we went to the Vietnam embassy one morning to get our visa's made, we were again shocked at the price. Our guide book said it was $20 USD. When we arrived though we were told it was $60 USD to have them done in 10 min, or $50 USD for 3 days, no matter what country you are from. We took the 3 days one but were still disappointed, and Jes let the guy at the counter know. There was no bartering to be done however, as the price is non negotiable.
One afternoon we decided to enjoy a foot massage, although parts of it were nice, the ladies were pretty tough on our sensitive little tootsies. They used a little stick and poked it into our feet! It often hurt, and after a couple days of walking we are pretty sure it was the massage that aggravated Jes' foot injury again.
Jes really wanted to rent a motor bike while in Laos, so we looked into it, and like most things it was very affordable.
J We found a shop renting some nicely put together custom bikes. The guy who rented them also maintained them and gave us information on the various models he had available. I choose a 200CC bike that said VanVan on the side, I found out later that Suzuki makes this bike. The owner was a French fellow and once again we cringed at the thought of him finding out we were non-French speaking Canadians.One of my personal favorite memories of Vientiane was visiting the Buddha Statue park, this little park is about 30km outside of town, and the drive out was thrilling for me, as we had the rented motorcycle. Mind you the day didn't start too well as we were pulled over not two blocks from our guest house for driving the wrong way down a one way street.
The signs were there, but we simply didn't see them, mostly because they are so different to Canadian road signs, and also because of their placement. We paid the fine to the police officers right there instead of going to the station with them as they wanted (which looking back was a bad idea as it was likely they pocketed the money). Either way, it was only a $17 fine, like everything in Laos, pretty affordable. Back on the road we got a little lost getting to the park and at one point had to stop and ask for directions, even though the locals didn't know a word of English they were very happy to help point and make hand gestures to ensure we got back on the right track.
Later when we were lost again I pulled into a gas station, the attendant filled up the motorcycle, but as we hadn't been driving it more then an hours it was still quite full, so we ended up putting in a dollars worth of gas. lol Then, being a silly foreigner I went inside the building to pay for my gas, the gentlemen inside was quite confused with what I was doing, trying to give him money, and eventually I realized that the young man at the pump was also the cashier. I mean why have multiple people, really.So I paid him, made sure I was still headed toward the park and continued on our way. No sooner had we started back on the road (oh in Laos they drive on the right, unlike Thailand) then we were staring down another police officer with his whistle in mouth and palm pointing toward us. Luckily though, as we approached he stepped to the side to let us pass and pulled over the car behind us, for speeding. We saw the lazer trap on the way home, but of course we didn't speed at any point while riding the motorcycle. Not because the bike wasn't capable, simply because the traffic and roads were nothing like at home.
Michelle will recall (and does often) that the road going to Buddha statue park was barely a road, and it was pretty scary for her as it was the first time she road on the back of a motorcycle, although she did ride on the back when we had the scooter in Koh Phangan. Pot holes (in the dirt), puddles, dust and vehicle debris, and the locals flying by with no fear of death added to the ride out to Buddha statue park. Once there though, we were rewarded by some impressive sights. The park was right beside the Mekong, and there were probably close to 5 dozen different statues. Some were huge Buddhas, one stone structure had hundreds of statues inside it and we were able to climb right up to the top of it. It was quite a hot day out and we stopped at the cafe on-site for cold drinks.
After finishing a bottle of water I asked Michelle to get me another, I gave her a 5000 note and informed her I didn't have the extra 1000 I needed as the water was 6000. I told her to just start looking through her purse when the cashier asked for the money and that she would simply take the note in hand and forget about the 1000. Mich didn't believe that the lady would do it, and so when she returned to tell me it happened just as I had predicted I had a chuckle. As we read in the guide book, everything can be bartered for in Laos, and playing the I don't have change game is something the locals do constantly, so why not return the favor.M Day two of having the bike started just like the previous day, as we went toward the Vietnam consular office and, you guessed it.. an officer pulled us over as we turned a corner. There are police sitting in small shacks at literally every major intersection in Vientiane and I'm sure all white tourists have big dollar signs over our heads so we're easy to spot. We were being given a ticket for having our head light on during the day, apparently it is only allowed at night. The officer took Jes over to where a senior officer was and they talked for a very long time. I stood there waiting and got worried, but after close to 10 minutes Jesse walked back toward the bike.
He told me the officers spoke very little English, but were able to figure out what Jes was telling them, and with enough smooth talk he got out of the ticket! First he argued that he already paid a ticket and that the law was stupid as it wasn't a headlight but daylight running lights, although the Bike did have a switch for no lights. When that didn't work he pleaded for a warning to be given and no fine. The officer seemed to have fun attempting to converse with Jes, using the few English words he knew, and when Jes started talking about the bad impression that the police were leaving on him as a traveler and talking about how it would affect tourism if people were afraid to come to Laos, the officer gave in and let him go.
After making sure the headlight was off, we put back on our funny looking bike helmets and drove towards the Laos version of the Arch de Triumph. The official name of this arch is Patuxai Anousavary, which is also known as the victory monument. The French had started to build it, and although it is amazing, it was never completed due to Laos' turbulent history. The views from the top were amazing, but we had to go through several shops on the various levels to get there. After enjoying the area and an ice cream as it was another hot day, we headed over to a huge temple called That Luang.
This huge golden looking, pyramid-like structure is the actual symbol of Vientiane. It was quite beautiful, and we spent a few minutes walking around it and discussing what we had learned of Buddhism and the monks who devote themselves to the religion. I had worn a tank top, which was a good idea as it was a hot day, bad idea because we went to the temple. So luckily Jes convinced me to get a "same-same" shirt to remember Laos while at the big arch, so I put it over the tank-top as to not offend anyone while at the temple. So after 10 minutes I was sweating, once outside the entrance gate I took off the new shirt, phew. We took our time walking past the various small shops outside the temple before heading home and as we did so a bunch of dark clouds started to come towards us. While we were driving back toward the guest house it started to rain. We pulled 
over and took cover in a cafe, and boy were we glad we did as it poured, so hard it was unbelievable.
He told me the officers spoke very little English, but were able to figure out what Jes was telling them, and with enough smooth talk he got out of the ticket! First he argued that he already paid a ticket and that the law was stupid as it wasn't a headlight but daylight running lights, although the Bike did have a switch for no lights. When that didn't work he pleaded for a warning to be given and no fine. The officer seemed to have fun attempting to converse with Jes, using the few English words he knew, and when Jes started talking about the bad impression that the police were leaving on him as a traveler and talking about how it would affect tourism if people were afraid to come to Laos, the officer gave in and let him go.
After making sure the headlight was off, we put back on our funny looking bike helmets and drove towards the Laos version of the Arch de Triumph. The official name of this arch is Patuxai Anousavary, which is also known as the victory monument. The French had started to build it, and although it is amazing, it was never completed due to Laos' turbulent history. The views from the top were amazing, but we had to go through several shops on the various levels to get there. After enjoying the area and an ice cream as it was another hot day, we headed over to a huge temple called That Luang.
This huge golden looking, pyramid-like structure is the actual symbol of Vientiane. It was quite beautiful, and we spent a few minutes walking around it and discussing what we had learned of Buddhism and the monks who devote themselves to the religion. I had worn a tank top, which was a good idea as it was a hot day, bad idea because we went to the temple. So luckily Jes convinced me to get a "same-same" shirt to remember Laos while at the big arch, so I put it over the tank-top as to not offend anyone while at the temple. So after 10 minutes I was sweating, once outside the entrance gate I took off the new shirt, phew. We took our time walking past the various small shops outside the temple before heading home and as we did so a bunch of dark clouds started to come towards us. While we were driving back toward the guest house it started to rain. We pulled 
over and took cover in a cafe, and boy were we glad we did as it poured, so hard it was unbelievable. Once the rain let up enough to drive we went back out. What better thing to do when the weather is bad, but get another massage! We both got Swedish oil massages this time, at the same place we had went before, and once again we only enjoyed half of the experience, as the ladies doing the massage pressed so hard at times it hurt. Afterward we went for dinner at a restaurant on the waterfront. This place had a few options we had not seen before, so we went out on a limb and tried frog! It tastes like Chicken..Really and it was very tasty. lol
We enjoyed the fair another night, and Jes won another bottle of imitation red bull from the balloon game. The next day was Jesse mom's birthday. Due to the time difference we planned to call her in the morning, which would have been the evening of her birthday. We went to about 5 different internet cafes, only to be told the internet was down at all of them. By the time we were able to call her it was the next morning for her and Jes felt pretty bad.
On our last day in Vientiane we spent a few hours on the internet, did some walking around, and relaxed. We knew my sister Julie had a packed schedule for our next leg of the adventure.. Japan!
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