We woke early (5:30am), as we had an early start. We were leaving for Vientiane at 8am, and it was our last destination in Laos. We headed down to Phetchaleun Hotels large dining area at 7am, where I helped myself to a fresh baguette, omelette, tea, coffee and the ubiquitous orange cordial that our Laotian hosts always offered in the morning.
With we loaded our packs into a minibus and made our way out of Vang Vieng. Within minutes we were speeding towards Vientiane, hitting every conceivable pothole on the way – the roads in Laos are not in the best of condition. At first the terrain was flat, with houses and dwellings built right to the edge of the roadside. We passed rice fields, old American airstrips and cement factories spewing smoke into the heavily polluted atmosphere.
The road occasionally narrowed as we passed through small villages and larger towns, with shops and dwellings crowding the roads verge. We slowed considerably as our driver navigated the main street of one particular village, where local fish vendors were selling cooked and raw
fish from stalls on either side of the road. The vendors source much of their fresh produce from Ang Nam Nhum, an enormous artificial lake located midway between Vang Vieng and Vientienne, which we occasionally glimpsed from the minibus window.
Within half an hour the road began to climb upwards, twisting and turning through the mountainous terrain in this part of the country. Rubber plantations lined the roadside, and small wooden dwellings dotted the landscape. Every so often the poorly sealed road would mutate rubble, and we would jolt uncontrollably in the back of the minibus until our driver found the next section of potholed bitumen. Things became very relative. I looked forward to the of a poorly sealed road.
Water buffalo stood aimlessly in rice fields, barbers groomed clients in roadside huts, trucks sped by with reckless abandon, excavators carved dark scars through unspoilt forest, and the leaves of trees were caked in thick brown dust. We occasionally found ourselves driving beside unfinished sections of the Railway Project (a train link that will connect Kunming in China with Vientiane in Laos by 2021), and I secretly longed for of
train travel, typing with ease as we drifted and swayed gently along the tracks. It wasnt long before another pothole jolted me back to reality.
After two hours on the road we stopped at a petrol station, and it was a break from typing on the backseat of a minibus. We refreshed with some cold cans of Nescafe coffee before continuing our journey to Vientiane. As we edged towards the countrys capital, the signs of augmented human habitation began to appear. There were more houses, more cars, more building sites and an amount of litter scattered along the road verges. Sometimes a perfectly manicured lawn would stand out like a sore thumb amidst the otherwise unkempt and earthen streetscape, and I wondered who tended it, and why.
We arrived in Vientiane around midday, only to discover that our room at the Family Boutique Hotel wouldnt be ready until 2pm, so we headed straight to lunch at Benoni Caf. We settled at a long table upstairs in an room and ordered khao soi (translated as ‘Luang Prabang rice noodle soup) for me and khao piak sen (chicken noodle soup) for Ren. We also ordered two
Thai red teas, as we hadnt had a milky iced tea since arriving in Laos. The food was exceptional. It was easily up there with the best food wed sampled so far in the country. However, we had to remove the cubes of coagulated blood from our dishes it was just a step too far at this stage of the trip!
Feeling refreshed, we headed out on an orientation walk of the city in the searing afternoon sun. We walked past the Presidential Palace, then crossed the road to Wat Si Saket. While the temple and its history were interesting, our visit was significantly enhanced by a wedding shoot.
