Greetings from Vientiane!!
Vientiane is a lovely city, full of French colonial architecture, good coffee and CYCLISTS. Just spent some time chatting with a few. I met a Japanese guy who is taking three months to ride from Shanghai to Singapore; he was taking his bike apart and cleaning it, and generally looking highly competent. The others, a Chinese guy with some kind of pale chubby north European woman. They had backpacks, no gear, regular clothing, bikes that I associate with Central American food delivery guys (don't know how else to describe them--they bought them in Luang Prabang for $200 each, which they thought quite expensive). No proper bags, puffy saddles, Tevas--they had just ridden down from Luang Prabang and planned to go to Cambodia. At them moment, I'm full of "If she can do it, I can do it!" but we'll see if I want to.
It's also the hottest time of the day, which is why I'm kickin it in an AC internet cafe. Soon, I will go visit the Lao National Museum (history of the revolution, I believe), and a wat or two. Also, lunch.
I like it here.
But how did I get to Vientiane?
Yesterday I discovered a new, awful, way of travel: the Lao VIP sleeper bus. Normally, I can sleep on buses, even fairly uncomfortable ones with sagging, hard seats. But the Lao VIP sleeper bus is different. There are two rows of twin beds on either side of the bus. There is about two feet of clearance between the bed and the ceiling (or the bed and the bed above). Sitting up is not an option (10-hour ride). This would not be so bad, except for X things: 1. you have to SHARE the bed (in my case, with a thankfully tiny Lao woman who had very sharp knees), 2. the road is very, very bumpy, 3. they turn out the lights at 8:15PM, so one can't read, and 4. the toilet situation is bleak.
Although, as my grandmother would have said, I "took care of myself" before getting on the bus, I had to pee about 45 minutes into the trip. For some reason, maybe the claustrophobia or the dark or the bumpy road or the length of the journey or whatever, it didn't occur to me that there was a toilet on the bus. So, while everyone else seemed to go into hibernation, I went into Monkey Mind. "Ohmygod, I think I have to pee! Do I have to pee?! How can I have to pee? Are we there yet? Can I make it without peeing? Will they stop the bus for me? Do I really have to pee, or am I just nervous because I might have to pee later and that's making me think I have to pee? Maybe I don't have to pee, and it's a tumor! No, I really have to pee! Crap! Eight more hours! Where am I gonna pee? Does anyone else have to pee?" etc..... I kept trying to fall asleep, but I really don't like touching people while I'm sleeping, and I was squashed into the window with the Lao woman's bony little knee in my thigh. Plus, brain freaking out about having to pee. Listening to music (Bon Iver and Jay-Z) didn't help, but did make me homesick. At 1:30 in the morning (yes, this went on for FIVE HOURS), I saw a man get out of his bed (which he was NOT sharing) and go to the back of the bus. "Oh!" I realized, "There's a toilet on the bus! I'm a dumbass!!" My brain and bladder immediately calmed down. Eventually, I went to the toilet (filthy, squat, glad I brought toilet paper, had a moment of wishing I had some Purell), found a temporarily empty bed (bus employee) and slept for about two hours. He eventually kicked me out of his bed, and I returned to my original bed, and my disappointed companion.
We arrived in Vientiane at 6:30 AM, and I eventually made my way to the guest housey part of town, where I decided that I deserved a $35 room for a night. And a nap.
For the record, I have had lots of time sightseeing, hanging out with other travelers, eating tasty food, taking pleasant bicycle rides, but those don't make for good stories, so I'm not going to share them.
I will add this, primarily for the edification of Lou Garcia: on a tour of the Bolaven Plateau, the guide squashed some fire ants between his fingers and ate them.
I'll post some pics before I leave Vientiane, but I don't have cable on me, so will wait until tomorrow.
XOXOXO
Vientiane is a lovely city, full of French colonial architecture, good coffee and CYCLISTS. Just spent some time chatting with a few. I met a Japanese guy who is taking three months to ride from Shanghai to Singapore; he was taking his bike apart and cleaning it, and generally looking highly competent. The others, a Chinese guy with some kind of pale chubby north European woman. They had backpacks, no gear, regular clothing, bikes that I associate with Central American food delivery guys (don't know how else to describe them--they bought them in Luang Prabang for $200 each, which they thought quite expensive). No proper bags, puffy saddles, Tevas--they had just ridden down from Luang Prabang and planned to go to Cambodia. At them moment, I'm full of "If she can do it, I can do it!" but we'll see if I want to.
It's also the hottest time of the day, which is why I'm kickin it in an AC internet cafe. Soon, I will go visit the Lao National Museum (history of the revolution, I believe), and a wat or two. Also, lunch.
I like it here.
But how did I get to Vientiane?
Yesterday I discovered a new, awful, way of travel: the Lao VIP sleeper bus. Normally, I can sleep on buses, even fairly uncomfortable ones with sagging, hard seats. But the Lao VIP sleeper bus is different. There are two rows of twin beds on either side of the bus. There is about two feet of clearance between the bed and the ceiling (or the bed and the bed above). Sitting up is not an option (10-hour ride). This would not be so bad, except for X things: 1. you have to SHARE the bed (in my case, with a thankfully tiny Lao woman who had very sharp knees), 2. the road is very, very bumpy, 3. they turn out the lights at 8:15PM, so one can't read, and 4. the toilet situation is bleak.
Although, as my grandmother would have said, I "took care of myself" before getting on the bus, I had to pee about 45 minutes into the trip. For some reason, maybe the claustrophobia or the dark or the bumpy road or the length of the journey or whatever, it didn't occur to me that there was a toilet on the bus. So, while everyone else seemed to go into hibernation, I went into Monkey Mind. "Ohmygod, I think I have to pee! Do I have to pee?! How can I have to pee? Are we there yet? Can I make it without peeing? Will they stop the bus for me? Do I really have to pee, or am I just nervous because I might have to pee later and that's making me think I have to pee? Maybe I don't have to pee, and it's a tumor! No, I really have to pee! Crap! Eight more hours! Where am I gonna pee? Does anyone else have to pee?" etc..... I kept trying to fall asleep, but I really don't like touching people while I'm sleeping, and I was squashed into the window with the Lao woman's bony little knee in my thigh. Plus, brain freaking out about having to pee. Listening to music (Bon Iver and Jay-Z) didn't help, but did make me homesick. At 1:30 in the morning (yes, this went on for FIVE HOURS), I saw a man get out of his bed (which he was NOT sharing) and go to the back of the bus. "Oh!" I realized, "There's a toilet on the bus! I'm a dumbass!!" My brain and bladder immediately calmed down. Eventually, I went to the toilet (filthy, squat, glad I brought toilet paper, had a moment of wishing I had some Purell), found a temporarily empty bed (bus employee) and slept for about two hours. He eventually kicked me out of his bed, and I returned to my original bed, and my disappointed companion.
We arrived in Vientiane at 6:30 AM, and I eventually made my way to the guest housey part of town, where I decided that I deserved a $35 room for a night. And a nap.
For the record, I have had lots of time sightseeing, hanging out with other travelers, eating tasty food, taking pleasant bicycle rides, but those don't make for good stories, so I'm not going to share them.
I will add this, primarily for the edification of Lou Garcia: on a tour of the Bolaven Plateau, the guide squashed some fire ants between his fingers and ate them.
I'll post some pics before I leave Vientiane, but I don't have cable on me, so will wait until tomorrow.
XOXOXO
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