The innocent bewilderment of Vientiane
Laotian naga from Wat Sisaket | Art by Todd Berman
We’re such wimps. Rather than hop on a cheap bus over the Vietnam-Laos border, Todd and I decide to fly. We’d heard enough grievous tales of 4 a.m. shakedowns for bribes, overnight rides inflated into 36 hour international incidents, and toilets of legendary filth to convince us to forgo the chance for border-crossing misadventures.
The “Little Capital City that Could,” it’s not clear what Vientiane could do even if it bothered to try. Tourism has grown faster than the infrastructure that supports it, and hotel staff in particular still seem stupefied by the appearance of visitors. Over and over again we take off our shoes, squeeze our backpacks through the front door, and walk across the lobby to the hotel’s front desk, only to be greeted by a person wearing an expression of innocent bewilderment; they seem unable to believe that we have come to their hotel to ask about a room. It would never occur to them to hang a “FULL” sign on their door and save us both the trouble.
But, taken with a dose of irony, Vientiane rewards the patient explorer. After a getting lost searching for elusive street eats, we find ourselves inside Morning Market Mall where, after a food court lunch of local food, we have a Debbie Gibson moment. In between runway struts by pale waifs showing off the latest in skin whitening creams, Laotian boy bands like B-Hero show off their karaoke and Dance-Dance Revolution skills to an adoring crowd of teens, monks, and us.
Photos from Vientiane, Laos
If you can’t see the photo slide show above, view the photo set on Flickr.
Lauren and Todd –
FEEL
THE
LOVE
!!!
We miss you and we love your updates. Don’t stop writing!!
Love,
Kim & Sharna (faithfully watching over the Mission while you are away)
p.s. Dog hair? Gross!!!
Hi Lauren and Todd,
I’m guilty of reading some of your posts, thinking how fabulous they are, and not commenting, so I hope to redeem myself just a little by sending you a hello. The posts that I’ve read are incredible, and if I ever go to any of the destinations that you have visited, your site is THE source for great information! Happy for you both that you are having a wonderful time, and look forward to seeing you back in SF soon!
Tastes Like Chicken!!!
Lauren, I do read your posts quite often and really enjoy them. I keep hoping to find typos, but you seem to be immune….
Looking forward to your return!
Love
~Doug
Ha! The first time I went to vientiane was in 1998, I think. That was back when it was still the Capitol of a real communist country and had not opened itself to the west (aka Thailand primarily) despite being right across the friendship bridge. There were almost no cars at all on teh streets (a few Mercedes from the 1950s and 1960s was it) just bicycles. It was incredibly sleepy by any standards and especially for a capitol city.
Rahm and I went back briefly just a few years later in 2001 and I was amazed at how much it had changed in just a few years. Development, lots of trucks, cars, and motorizedscooters. Women were wearing makeup… People seemed more upbeat but I think I liked the old version better in a lot of ways.
Luang Prabang was by far our favorite place we visited in Laos though!