Post #14 Vientiane

Day 19 1061 days to go. Distance: today 70km total Today 70 total 753km. It’s 4.00pm Monday the 19/12/2011 Vientiane. Found this great guest house single room shared bathroom for 70000 kip which is such a great price for Vientiane which is virtually double the rest of Laos in cost of living. Had a really good ride here the road wasn’t too bad the traffic pretty full on particularly the last 20km coming into the capital but all good. I managed to find a petrol station close to town and hosed off Ruby’s and cleaned and lubed her important bits. The bags have been cleaned and last but not least me so I’m looking and feeling squeaky clean with some beautiful perfume on for a treat (thx Mum). I’ll head out soon to have a recky of the city – it’s huge and grand as a first impression so I’ll bike it to get a feel of the place. I couldn’t believe it I was outside the guesthouse servicing Rube and I hear ‘Maree’ and it was Linn the girl from Sweden I met in Chaing Rai small small small world. Her and a couple of friends she’s hooked up with are staying in the same street and just happen to be walking past how cool is that. They have invited me out for dinner at 7.30pm and it’ll be great to have some company and conversation yay. I got an email from Hanna the UK girl who’s still leading the group of school kids from Perth and they may be here at a similar time so I may be able to hook up with them again over the next days we’ll see. Anyway with all on offer in Vientiane there’ll be heaps to occupy over the next couple of days R&R. I’ll upload the last two posts using wifi from the guesthouse now and add the photos when I have internet access. Hey I was reading further about Laos last night and this country has had a difficult history that’s for sure. It struggles economically compared to it’s neighboring countries as the people are not commercially driven or competitive. In the history of wartime Loas is the most bombed country per head of people from the Vietnam war not that long ago from a historical perspective. They are still one of the poorest countries in the world and the people survive mostly through agriculture and other farming means which I have seen examples of over the last week. It’s no wonder the people are less tourist conscious and seem more busy about their working day – clearly different priorities and needs far removed then what we know that’s for sure. A few people I have met along the way speak about how less open Laos people are compared to other south east asian countries and no wonder hey – lesson in perspective to be sure. anyway vientiane is very different as a capital city and coming from the northern regions. A good place to explore. Talk soon x