Last of Laos and more of Cambodia

Saturday to Vientiane

Another interesting flight. Indochina has suffered some extremely heavy tropical storms, not the typhoons which have lashed the Koreas but the after effects. It seems that most of the low lands of the region here are under water. Rivers are swollen, the daily thunder storms leave water lying around without soaking into the already sodden ground.

As soon as we left Vientiane airport we knew we didn't want to be here. The city seems to be a hotch potch of new often ugly buildings with old, dirty, dusty and stinky. Our first hotel disaster of the trip, this place was dark and drab, in a back alley, though the people as everywhere were friendly though very limited in English. Not at all like the photos and at average price for the places I have been picking. The bath closet stank. The receptionist said after we've run water the smell would go. NO! With holes in the bath ceiling as well, the toilet was angled out from the wall so you had to sit side saddle. The bedroom ceiling was the colourbond of the roof, nothing much between us and the heat. We spent Saturday afternoon looking for a Bangkok Airways office, all closed, so took a tuk at great expense (US$15 return, we were overcharged but who cares) back to the airport, found their cubicle and luckily were able to get seats for Monday morning's flight. Better still,were able to book a day early into our Siem Reap hotel. For the rest of the afternoon we walked to the Mekong for a look and then along one of the boulevards past the Presidential palaces and ministry buildings to the local version of their victory arch (a former regime's answer to the Arc de Triomphe) which is an ugly concrete structure and described as such in our guide book. Can't remember dinner, but we found a suitable place near the hotel.

Sunday we were plucked from the busy bus station by a canny driver and so took a tuk out of town to the famous and popular Buddha Park which Howard remembered fondly. Part of the road was so pot holed we thought the tuk would break up. We drove along “Embassy Row” where the Australian embassy stood out as a clean white structure – behind a high fence. Along the way, a new highway from Laos to Thailand passes over the road we were on and leads to the Friendship Bridge, which was financed by Australia. The park wasn't brilliant, just interesting in a curious way, supposedly devoted to Buddha but interspersed with figures from Hindu religion. Built about 50 years ago, it was the vision of an eccentric who had great vision for Laos but clashed with the regime of the time, which ran him out of the country. So, across the river in Thailand he apparently built an even more bizarre park.

Back in town and walking past the ANZ bank building we went in and tried their ATM which happily spat out money for Howard so we're not quite sure what's up with his cards. We wandered into the local mall and up to the food hall for lunch before finding our way back home. We'd arranged to make a Skype call to the Queensland grandchildren so had to be back before 4.00pm. The wi-fi, which by the way has been free everywhere except the Bangkok hotels, wasn't crash hot in our room but worked better in the breakfast room which was closed off for us with the aircon turned on and we had a fun video call. Later we went out to find some dinner and ended up in a Chinese restaurant with four waitresses to look after us. Collapsed into bed for a fitful sleep as we needed to be on our way at 4.30am. Naturally, the front gate was chained (after asking whether we would be able to get out at that time) but there was a person asleep on a couch in the lobby (living room) who had a key. No driver appeared so we walked up to the main road and after a few minutes made a tuk driver's morning by giing him an unexpected fare. He only wanted $3 for the ten minute ride to the airport (we gave him $5).

The usual procedure at the airport and the long sit down until departure, but in domestic, even though we were leaving the country, we were reminded just how closely related these three countries are (Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam).

A note here to Qantas, get Alan Joyce and Neil Perry to sample some of the snack packs that they manage to serve on airlines in the region. Leave the rubbish served on Qantas far behind.

Plenty of photos loaded up now, here is a link to the Picasa web albums
https://picasaweb.google.com/irenewheatley/SiemReapTonleSapLake?authuser=0&feat=directlink


Goodbye Laos