Saturday, April 19, 2014

Laos: Three cities in three days

So, we left Chiang Mai with plans to be in Laos for the 23rd, 24th and 25th. A "bus" picked us up at Mojito Garden to take us across the border. It was a few hours late and was a truck with benches in the back. We didn't know if we'd be taking that ALL the way to Vientiane, Laos. We hoped not. We met Star Face (a weathered woman with loose braids and stars tattooed along the side of her face), a quirky man named Saul and an Australian couple. The truck drove us to a visa office where we filled out paperwork and ate breakfast (in the middle of the night - it was cooked for us on the second floor of the visa office. Weird.) We transitioned into a van where I somehow ended up in the most uncomfortable seat. All the way in the back, next to a tilting pile of everyone's luggage. I swear this ride to the capital was the longest in the history of life. And the windiest. Every time I started to fall asleep, luggage would fall on me. Haneefa thought this was hilarious. By the time we arrived to the border, I was sleepless, cranky and was ready to throw everyone's bags out the window. 

Laos was cold and we stood in lines to get visas, I barely had enough local currency to cover mine. We found a tuk tuk that took us to Intercity Boutique Hotel, where we posted up for the night. The lobby had Buddha statues everywhere. We sleepwalked up to our room and passed out until 6 p.m. I woke up in a panic, upset that we had slept our day away. We walked across the street and walked along the Mekong Delta River Market and grabbed dinner at a street restaurant. We saw Star Face walking around aimlessly and talked with her for a bit. She was originally from Canada, so Haneefa traded French with her. We strolled the streets a bit, ate an indian banana pancake and went back to the hotel. 

The next morning was Christmas eve and we were on a bus out of Vientiane at 3, so we woke early and made the most of our remaining hours. I went to Buddha Park (hundreds of Buddha sculptures and monuments) and Haneefa went to the COPE museum (land mines). Haneefa saw the Patuxie Monument (looks a lot like the Arc de Triumph) and ran into Saul and Star Face. 

We got on our bus to Vieng Vien at 3 p.m. and met a severely drunk South African guy who had lost his friend to a lady boy. He had a bottle of booze with him and offered us some. We declined. O

Once, we arrived in Vieng Vien (BEAUTIFUL - the city was surrounded by mountains), we checked into the Silver Naga Hotel and found our way to an Irish Pub and met Owen from Ireland and Stu from England and had dinner with them. We played pool and sang Christmas songs with the live band. The bar closed at midnight and made our way to Club 101, where we were offered opium, saw Indian pimps guarding ladyboy hookers and an old, balding white man pushing his tongue into a young, skinny Laos boy's mouth. The boy was not pushing the man away. Haneefa was offered a sketchy drink and we were invited to a Christmas Day jungle party the next day. I think it would have been the kind of party where I would have missed my flight to Vietnam had we gone. Owen walked us home, trying to convince us to go tubing the next day. I tried to leave Haneefa and him alone because Owen had a crush, but Haneefa was oblivious. 

When we woke, it was Christmas! Firs Christmas I've spent away from all family. Breakfast at Silver Naga (cinnamon rolls, ham and cheese croissants, fruit and tea) was spread out with Christmas carols playing in the background. The owner was American and had a son who married a girl from Laos. They had a Christmas tree in the lobby and her grandchildren were ripping presents open in front of everybody. It was cute. Made me miss my family. Haneefa gave me a Christmas card and the tree bracelet I had admired the night before at a shop near our hotel. 

We packed up, took pictures together outside along the riverbank and boarded an 8-hour "VIP" bus to Luang Prabang (our last stop in Laos). Another bus ride from hell - we swerved through mountains, curving, rolling, bumping, sliding out of our seats. I felt sick more than once. Merry Christmas to us :)

We finally arrived in Luang Prabang around 6 p.m. and got scammed by tuk tuk drivers. Charged us an outrageous price (we obliged as there were no other rides in sight and it was getting dark) and dropped us at the wrong part of town. No one knew where our hotel was. We finally found a driver who knew the name of our hotel and took us there. We were SO tired upon arrival and so happy with how cozy and clean our room looked that we showered and contemplated the night market for about three seconds and put on pj's, ordered room service and watched movies instead. Fell asleep dreaming of sugar plums and reindeer. :)

December 26 was spent in town, browsing the markets and walking the city streets. I bought a Buddha painting and a bracelet for Haneefa and we bumped into Saul and all had lunch together.We took a tuk tuk back to Sada (our hotel), packed and boarded the hotel shuttle to the airport. It was time to say goodbye to Laos. We had a few hours to kill once arriving at the small airport and met Carolyn (originally from San Diego) who now lives and works in Doha, Qatar. I ended up sitting next to her on our flight. She helped us get through the visa process by loaning us US dollars. I lost Haneefa for a while - she had gone with Carolyn to find an ATM to pay her back while I was still waiting for my visa to process. Remember, I had no phone, didn't know the name of our hotel and almost started to panic when I saw her through the glass doors beyond luggage collection. Whew. 

Golden Cyclo was the name of our hotel and our taxi driver had a hard time finding it as it was new. We checked in, unpacked, Skyped home and went to bed. Ahh. It felt so good to be in a place we didn't have to leave the next day. 


Revive yo self, girl.

Hi! It's been a while. Life happened and I forgot to write it down.  I read a book recently. One that made me think long after I fin...