Vientiane

I woke up early again today.  It was 0600 when I checked the time and that was when I reached the point where I could not stay in bed any longer.  In the positive side breakfast started at 0600 so that at least gave me something to do.

The more I see of others in the hotel the more I figure they seem to be in two distinct groups. Some that I think must be living and working in the area, they all seem to speak the local language at least a little. Then there are the tourists, the ones with more money than me.

There was a woman, the unkind part of me calls her the idiot woman, who decided she wanted eggs for breakfast. She looked around and on seeing a pan on an old burner she marched over picked up the pan for emphases and demanded eggs for breakfast. She spoke in that loud slow voice that some people use when they think people do not understand them as if they believe that a miracle will occur and the person will suddenly understand because they are speaking loudly and slowly.

Now the poor waiter spoke English quite well and was trying to diplomatically take the pan off her and explain that the eggs were cooked in the kitchen and that the pan was just a part of the display.

I was trying very hard not to laugh. Only because I though the poor waiter would think I was laughing at him and not at the idiot female.

Eventually I gave in and explained to her what the waiter had said. She looked rather perplexed, put the pan down and asked, well how do I make him understand I want scrambled eggs then!

My first stop of the morning was the bank to get some to get some Kip. There is about 10’500 kip to the US $1, that results in a lot of Kip!

After getting my hands on some local cash I went off on a walking tour of the city, or a least a portion of it. The first stop was the Patuxai, a large concrete monument, thankfully it is only a few stories high so there are not too many stairs one has to climb to get to the top. There is a reward for climbing all the stairs in the great 360 view of Vientiane.

One of the highlights was the Talat Sao Markets they are huge and anything you could possibly want to by you could pretty much find it here. There are a row of Goldsmiths are the rear of the markets crafting everything from chains to trinkets, it was facinating watching them work.

I ended the day on the banks of the Mekong. During the day there really is not much here other then a couple of deserted beer gardens but as the day starts to disappear the banks come alive and are filled with tables and chairs and became one massive beer garden. It’s a great way to sit back, chill and watch the river life drift by and the sun set over the river.

I was walking back to the hotel after dinner when I noticed the dogs. Now I’d seen them around while I’d been tramping around town. Mostly a single underfed looking dog here and there. I noticed these dogs because there was about five of them and they all looked quite well fed.

The lighting was becoming a little sporadic before it cut out completely and that was when the howling started.

That was the point where the walk back got a little freaky!