In Vientiane, Laos

We are in Vientiane, Laos. To get here we took a two hour bus ride from Udon Thani. The border crossing was a breeze thanks to us getting our Laos visa in Bangkok. We had to show our visa in order to buy the bus tickets from Udon to Vientiane, and then again at the border.

Vientiane has changed quite a bit since our last visit sixteen years ago. There are so many new buildings that we can’t figure out where we stayed before. Here there are a lot more female farangs than in Udon. In Udon whenever we saw an American, British or Australina man, he was either with his Thai wife (temporary or permanent variety), his Thai boy, or with other men. Here the men are quite often with European looking women. Laura doesn’t feel like such an oddity.

The first thing Laura did after arriving at the bus station in downtown Vientiane was to get her nails done by a woman walking around the station carrying her own water and supplies. It cost just over a dollar.

Last night we went to a free showing of the silent film "Chang", which had been filmed in Lao in 1927, back when Laos was part of French Indochina. A screen had been set up along the riverfront where they had also built coliseum type seating on the side of the river. This was all new since our last visit. The area is still under construction, having been started two years ago. There is also an active night market along the river. The movie was subtitled in both French and Laotian. The orchestra accompanying the movie played traditional Laotian instruments and Laotian music.