Chinese Dishes Stacked in Laos – Part 1

 

A Day-Bus

The bus ride from Pakse to Vientiane was supposed to take 10 hours. So I was told. Most tourists take the sleeper bus. I wanted to see the countryside so opted for the local day-bus.

What could possibly go wrong?

I left the sweet little French-like town of Champasak and went on a song-teow [three  benched pick-up truck] with a bunch of locals. We all headed into Pakse, the large city in the region. I had my backpack. When you’re in a small pick-up with twelve to fifteen other locals, things always get tight. Everyone was headed into town for the day-market so there were boxes, large bags, stacks of eggs, babies in bundles.

Though the back of the truck was covered it didn’t help much when it down-poured rain.

Normally a twenty-five minute drive, we got to the market an hour and a half later. A tuk-tuk took me from the market to the bus pick-up. Fortunately my bus hadn’t left yet.

I bought a ticket from a man at a small table. He stamped the ticket and said the bus would arrive in thirty minutes. It did!

To this day I still don’t understand why I paid so little and received so much.

When I had asked around about the time on a local bus, everyone said maybe a couple of more hours than the night bus. Online things said the night-bus was ten hours – or so. So, I figured, twelve to thirteen hours. That’s doable. Leave at 8am arrive 8pm.

Wending Your Way

As the bus wended its way though the Laotian countryside, it stopped at every small market, anywhere someone wanted to get off, anyplace someone needed to load or unload products headed to the capital. Though I admire this type of local entrepreneurship, after ten hours it can get taxing.

The local food sellers helped. That famous Laotian grilled chicken and sticky rice.

 

 

We arrived in Vientiane nineteen hours later, at 3:30am.

 

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Unknown Hotels

The last time I was in Vientiane was years ago. Forty-eight years to be exact. At the time I needed to cross over to extend my Thai visa. It was something, as Mormon missionaries, we had to do every three months.

Needless to say, I had no clue as to what the place was like now – what to see, what to do, where to go.

I had looked up guesthouses online and the one that kept coming up was the Central Vienna Hotel. It was in my cheap price range and located right near the Mekong River. Before I got on the bus in Pakse I called the CVH to see if they were opened late, as I didn’t expect to get in until late that night.

A young man answered. Because I was in Laos, speaking Thai can pass over but can be dodgy so I asked in Thai if he spoke English. He said yes. We spoke a bit in scattered English and Thai and when I hung up I had everything I needed to know.

The hotel was opened 24 hrs a day so there would be no problem if I arrived late. I told him I expected to be there by 10PM.

The bus station in Vientiane was much further from the city center than expected. After some dealing with a song-toew driver, me and eight others got into the back of the pickup and he dropped me a half a block from the CVH.

A Man in the Dark

When I approached the hotel door at 3:30AM the interior lobby was completely dark. Not a light on inside or out. But the door opened! I went inside the dark interior trying to see what not to run into. As I cautiously approached what I assumed was the front desk in the dark, someone yelled out in Laotian,

‘Hello! Is someone there?’

I answered quietly, ‘Yes, a khon farang [foreigner]…’

From a shadowed sofa at the base of the stairs a blanket fell to the floor and a small  man stood up from the cushions. On hearing my voice he said quietly in English,

‘Oh. Hello. You the man who call today that I talk to?’

When I told him Yes in Thai he walked over, wai-ed. Then he reached over in the dark, shook my hand and said,

‘Welcome to Vientiane.’

His name was S— . [I hesitate to use actual names for the safety of people involved]

He went to the back of the long, two room lobby and flipped one switch to light up the front desk then walked back. I told him I was sorry to wake him and he told me it was his job, that was why he was here, to help people.

Considering Kindness

When I confront kind people that I feel like I have intruded upon, I am always impressed, if given, by their considerate, helpful nature. If only I, too, could have such selflessness! Such people are endearing and memorable.

S— was one such human.

We talked over rooms, prices and such. When he found out that I wanted a room with a window he knew which one to take. It was more expensive than I had thought rooms would be, so he lowered the price by $2. He said there were few people there so it would be okay. I told him that I would take two nights as I was leaving the next day for Thailand. I would only have one short day to look around Vientiane.

His smile was infectious. He laughed. There was joy in his need to practice his English. It created joy for me in wanting to help him. This happens when people crossover in needs and want. Though sometimes suspicion can arise when people act this way, he had no malice or want to advantage my presence.

As humans, we know when flip-sides of coins occur.

He showed me to the stairs at the back of the lobby. He told me that work for him ended at 7AM so I probably wouldn’t see him when I came back down. As I walked up to the third floor I missed his presence already.

3rd Floor. Of course, Laos adapted floor levels from the French. So, there is the ground floor, then the floor level, then the 1st floor. So my 3rd floor room was up five floors.

Our Reasoning

The rooms at CVH are adequate. With the name of Vienna thrown in, one might expect a bit more posh. Whoever they were, they tried. And yes, the room had a window. It looked over to the side of another building. From the long bus ride and events of the late night arrival I crashed into my not-a-feathered-Viennese bed and passed out.

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When I finally showered and walked down to the lobby they were just finishing the free breakfast. There was one other person being served by a Laotian woman. Though the food was less than adequate, once again the woman serving up was happier than anyone around. So, once again, in the face of inadequacy, I was shifted to joy.

A long bus ride. A dark lobby. A window with no view. Poor toast and instant coffee. Given the faces of those trying to help, all of those things were sad reasons to complain or despair.

Kip Issues

Switching from US Dollar to Thai Baht to Lao Kip, then trading the three into different denominations and places can be somewhat of a hassle. It comes with the territory.

A new man, B—-, was at the lobby desk. When I explained to him that I was the man who came in late and checked in with S— he pulled out a written check-in sheet. I told him I hadn’t paid yet because I didn’t have enough Kip when I checked in. Was there an ATM nearby?

Again, B—- was as helpful and generous as his friend, S—. He told me where several ATM’s were located. I told him I was going out to get some coffee and would return with the cash.

No problem.

Once again I was confronted with the Laotian Kip problem. I hate to call it a problem because, ultimately, like the US Dollar or Thai Baht, it is simply a piece of paper that people choose to value. But then, get this:

1 Kip = 0.00012 US$ / 100 Kip = 0.012 US$ / 1,000 Kip = 0.12 US$ / 100,000 Kip = 11.52 US$

I took out 500,000 Kip at the ATM. At $18 a night for two nights, I owed the hotel 329,840.01 Kip. [BTW this was the most I ever paid during my 3 month trip]

B—- was glad when I returned to the hotel to pay my bill.

When I asked him about the easiest way to cross the border into Thailand, he suggested a van pick-up in the morning, right at the hotel. Then the pick-up van would take me to the bus station where there was a bus at 10:30AM to take me to the Thai city of Udon Thani. It was perfect as that is where I wanted to go. I paid him for that too and he gave me a receipt. He told me to be in the lobby at ten the next morning.

There were a couple of Chinese people in the lobby talking through some things. I assumed they were checking in.

I took off to see the city.

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I never knew much about Laos even though I have spent years in its neighboring country. I have been here a few times but never in the south, where Champasak was. I've been along the upper Mekong to Luang Prabang, the beautiful, former temple-rich capital. Then a few unmemorable times when I was younger. But things there were vague. 

I really started to read about it when writing on this trip.

More info on Laos:  
A Laotian 4th of July
The Old New World – Part 1
The Old New World – Part 2

Temple Twists

Vientiane is small for a capital of a country, 700,000 or so. But then, Laos is a small country. It’s smaller than the state of Utah and only has a population of a little over 7 million. Less than the city of Phoenix.

It is a poor country and completely land locked.

As I walked around the neighborhoods near my hotel there were beautiful sections in the city. Some older French houses can still be found. There were a few foreign embassies and the main government palace taking up blocks. One favorite place was a block-long sidewalk covered with people selling leaves, mushrooms, dried herbs and an array forest found goods. And then – there was another tree that had taken over. Like in Thailand, they let it rule.

One has to literally walk on the curb to get around it. It also makes for a good bench.

 

I knew I wanted to go to one of the temples named Wat Si Saket, so I stopped a man and asked him if he knew where it was. He turned out to be a Thai engineer out on a little vacation! He said he had just come from there and would be glad to go back. Could he join me?

As we walked the couple of blocks to the temple compound he explained that he was alone. He was glad to run into me. Could we tour the town together?

Always the sceptic, I said Sure then added that I didn’t know exactly how long I was out or where I was going. He was quite nice and as we walked we exchanged life stories, information.

We got to Wat Si Saket.

 

Next / Chinese Dishes Stacked in Laos - Part 2