Days 8 through 13 – Laos Side Trip
We arrived in Laos in just over an hour, it was a good flight and decided to try out a business seat this time round.. As the plane was packed, I was pleased that I chose this option and we could relax in peace and relative quiet.
Arriving at Laos Wattay International Airport, Vientiane was an experience in itself. Much like Queen Alia Airport in Jordan….. Hectic at the visa counter. Had it crossed my hungover brain that I should have got my visa before going whilst in Bangkok, would have saved me all the time filling out 5 different forms and then trying to explain in pigeon english to the Visa counter lad, I didn’t have a photo.. I was ushered to the payment counter to cross their palm with US Dollars – all 30 of them.
Needless to say, we were also unaware of the Vientiane SEA Games were being staged. This is equivelant to the commonwealth games back in UK I guess. There are huge preparations all over the city and a lot of practice games in progress. The local police are everywhere to stop all the traffic when the competitors busses move them from one location to another… A nice wee spectical.
An old London taxi picked us up from the airport, a bit of nostalgia and good for a laugh.. As there was no aircon installed and the cab was like a fecking oven. Pissing with sweat and nursing a hangover made the journey to the hotel vely enjoyable.. lol.
Checked into the hotel – The Satthai Palace. This is styled on an old French Colonial dwelling with big bay windows and hardwood polished floors everywhere. It cost me around the 200 pound sterling mark for 5 days in a very good sized suite.
Everything is done very elequaintly and to a high standard at the hotel, even if a little outdated in the modernisation department. Our first night had the ballroom cater to the French Ambassador with a cocktail party.. I had to politely turn their request down as I would be busy shagging my good lady.. :-P
We went out for a walk and couldn’t get our bearings properly for some reason so we retired for the evening. Over the next few days we did manage to explore and even seen 3 temples and a rather large Loas monument. The BeerLaos is a good drink and is a light beer and a nice aftertaste too..
A point I noticed, everywhere we went was that
Helen was being stared at by man, woman and child… I wondered why to be honest as there was quite a few ladyboys where we were, and that was the quiet area too.. They werent interested in me in the remotest way, just
Helen.. hahaha – bastards!
All in all, Laos was a different treat for us, but not a place I will venture back to I think. All the time I have been here I have been longing to get back to Thailand and to what I know… There is comfort in what you know, that’s for sure and at least I did try to take the time and visit somewhere different than Thaialnd.
I hope you enjoy the pics I have.
To be continued………………………