From Russia with Rees: Vientiane and Vang Vieng (From Bucks Free Press)

From Russia with Rees: Vientiane and Vang Vieng

11:00pm Monday 16th November 2009

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Vientiane (Capital of Laos)

No don't get me wrong, I'm all for roughing it and sacrificing comfort for experience and all that, but there is something intensely fabulous about a place with flushing toilets! Wahey! No more scooping buckets of murky water for two days at least!

And while I'm at it (call me a heathen..), I'm also very excited to find a coffee shop with squashy chairs and lattes with sprinkles! Hurray for capital cities!

But Vientiane certainly isn't a typical capital. It has all the things you would expect: flash hotels, ministries and embassies galore and coffe shops on every corner, but the whole feel of the place is, well calm. There are quiet squares with fountains, colourful empty temples (though chatty monks can be found lurking in their wooden sleeping quarters) and a sleepy riverside. Even the market, which was full of people and mud and ducks, seemed rather calm, with people lounging on stool eating waffles and chatting. I think its marvellous! Its like the perfect city: all the comforts and none of the chaos and noise and 'you want tuktuk laiiiddddiiiieee'. And even though it rained all day and I got absolutely soaked, I still love it!

But the week has not all be quite so easy! I left Pakse on a local bus, quickly learning that the term 'bus' is very loose, it really is more of a postal service and errand-running service. A four hour journey took seven, as we stopped to pay to this man, stopped to drop off people, stopped to load chickens onto the roof rack, stopped to eat, stopped just to have a chat... There were only about five passengers on board, which allowed space for the 29 bags of green fruit shoved under every seat and the 40 sacks of coffee beans which lined the aisle, piled as high as the arm rests providing an aromatic foot rest as I read my book and enjoyed the ride. My relaxing afternoon was broken only by herds of women running down the street and onto the bus, clambering over the coffee sacks to see armfuls of things on sticks (pork balls, insects, an entire roast chicken..) and bags of boiled eggs.

Savannakhet - when we finally arrived - was a lovely place. Small and quiet (can you see a theme emerging here in Laos...) with a, yes you guessed it, colonial buildings and little wooden houses and a sleepy riverside that comes to life as the sun sinks below the horizon and the lights of Thailand across the water twinkle temptingly. I cycled around and ate laap (spicy beef salad very yum) and prepared for the journey to Vientiane (VT). I admit I chickened out of the local bus (its 7 hours to VT so the local bus probably takes a few days!) and instead booked my self on the VIP sleeper bus: which is a double-decker multi-coloured extravanganza with crazy colourful patterns and free sweets and bottled water. I'm getting rather adept at sleeping anyway it seems, as I jusy hoiked up my blanket and dribbled on the man beside me until the lights were switched on at 5am and we pulled into VT in the pitch dark.

And now looms my final evening in VT and I feel quite sad to be going. I've enjoyed the atmosphere of the place, as well as the pineapple smoothies (50p!) and delicious spring rolls (you get a plate of garlic, chillis, cucumber, starfruit, basil leaves, mint leaves, noodles, lettuce and pork and you wrap them yourself and dip them in peanut sauce...heaven in a sheet of edible paper).

Next stop, Vang Vien.

Vang Vieng (Central-ish Laos)

Well it has not been the best weekend by all accounts. It started off quite pleasant: I spent my final evening in Vientiane squelching through the streets trying to find a place to eat that wassn't deserted (that never bodes well!) but the place is just so quiet! Ended up with a very spicy papaya salad and rice which made my eyes and nose stream much to the amusement of a gaggle of kiddies who were dribbling ice creams on the table beside me!

I was aware of a hoiking oriental man behind me that kepy sneaking shifty looks at my diary, which rattled me, until he came over and chatted and turned out to be a very sweet old Japanese man busting to know where I was from. He looked thrilled when I said England, and proceeded to tell me how much he enjoyed watching Channel four! He had thick black glasses and a chin coating grey beard and he explained that he was in VT for an abacus competition...I think anyway..some of it may have got lost in translation!

This was when things started to go downhill. Firstly, I paid the price for my spice and woke in the morning feeling dodgy, and so postponed my bus and curled up under my mossie net. Next morning I felt brighter, and so nipped out to enjoy the sleepy sunday sunshine and a last stroll in VT. I was strolling the grounds of a quiet temple when a motorbike sped up beside me and wrenched my camera off me. Two months of pictures went swinging a way in a second and I felt furious. I still can't believe it.

As you can imagine, I spent the four hours to vang Vieng feeling sorry for myself and throwing envious glances at every person with a camera, but I am starting to be philosophical about it. Firstly, my China and Russia pictures are safe at home and some fellow travellers have sweetly promised to send me their pictures of the same places. And more importantly, a thief can't take away the things Ive experienced, which are worth more than pictures any day. I'll just have to go around again!

It does mean people will get bored silly of hearing me spout about my trip and not be able to look at photos instead!

So we must look forwards, Vang Vieng. A funny old place. It is a small simple town that sits quietly on the river in the looming shadow of limestone cliffs, and really is magnificant. Rickety wooden bridges cross the fast flowing river and people wander aimiably about eating grilled bananas. It has, however, been hit by the tourist stick, and every wooden restaurant screens episodes of 'Friends' all day and sun-burnt scantily-clad travellers wander bare foot from the river to the hammocks of their guesthouse for happy hour. Thus said, its not as bad as it sounds. Its fairly quiet (off peak season) , very beautiful, and who doesn't enjoy a bit of 'Friends' when they need cheering up!?

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