Wated Out?

Our second day in Vientiane was just as busy as day one, starting with a trip to Le Banneton, the famous French bakery in the center of town.  Sipping on a hot cappuccino and eating fresh baguette transported me straight to Paris for a couple glorious moments.  Getting back there to try the apple tart is on my bucket list!

We decided to walk along the riverside to both explore the Mekong in the dry season and witness the work being done to transform the area into Vientiane "New World," a multi block development complete with multi millions dollar villas, luxury hotels and non knock off designer shopping complexes.  Since I have arrived a lot has already changed along the waterfront and it will be interesting to see how much will happen along here in 6 months, 5 years, 20...

Trying to stay in the shade, we headed to visit the COPE center which is always a mix of depressing and informative.  From there I decided to give mom and dad the ultimate of developing country experiences with a tour of the food market.  Lets just say they now understand why I don't buy meat from the market and cautiously wash every vegetable that ever enters my mouth.  Getting away from the overwhelming smells, we walked to visit Wat Sisiket, the most famous in Vientiane.  Having been "wat-ed" out already, we sped through to tour Ho Phra Keow temple but it was already closed for lunch.  We spent the hour meandering around the area and enjoying ice coffee at Joma, where Kiki met up with us for the afternoon.  We returned to tour the building, which once housed Thailand's emerald Buddha.  The building is one of a few that Hillary Clinton visited in August, so it certainly had to be part of our brief city tour.

Walking back into town, Kiki and I decided that my parents needed to experience the Istanbul restaurant. This time we opted for the fresh hummus which totally hit the spot.  Needing another nap, we returned to the apartment with the promise of meeting up with Brad (he's leaving while I'm away!) and Kiki before dinner with Mark at the Belgian mussel restaurant. 

At six, mom and I headed out to meet Briki by the fountain, where we found a new mulberry restaurant that was celebrating its opening day with mulberry smoothies and tempura mulberry leaves.  I was skeptical at first, but they were delicious!! I sad my weepy goodbyes to Brad and we headed back to the apartment to pick up dad for dinner.  

The Belgian owner of the restaurant serves mussels on Friday and Saturday that he imports from Thailand.  The huge 1 kilo servings are accompanied by French fries and fresh bread to dip in the variety of mussel sauces.  The place was hopping and we enjoyed a long meal outside, and certainly ate way to many mussels for our own good.  Trying to walk off some of the meal, we went to see Patuxai, which is all lit up at night.  We returned back home, weaving our way through motorbikes, tuk tuks and the crowds of a Saturday night Vientiane street.  

Back to season three of Downton Abbey!

Visiting Vientiane

It has been a while since I've updated the blogging world on life here in the Lao PDR.  I'll try to catch everyone up on the recent happenings in sunny South East Asia.

Last time I wrote, Mom and Dad were on their way to Laos to visit yours truly.  Their first morning they were introduced to the Kung's sticky rice pancake, and despite the lack of mango, it was delicious! Thanks to some coordinating on Vongdala's part, we visited the orthopedic hospital, which serves as the main surgical hospital in the country. We met with one of the hospital directors and toured the patient wings including the emergency room, neurosurgical unit and recovery floors.  It was very fascinating and gave my dad a good perspective for his work in Haiti.

Making our way into town, we stopped to scale Patuxai, the "vertical runway" and arc de triumph-esque monument on the main road of the city. The scenic panorama from the rooftop provided a very beautiful view of Vientiane and gave a good idea of the city layout.  We made our way to Nudle for lunch and enjoyed the Asian western fusion take away from the comforts of the small air conditioned restaurant.  Mom was pleasantly surprised by the availability of coca cola light, the Lao equivalent of Diet Coke.  I told her not to get too used to it, but was shocked by how everywhere we happened to go actually sold the silver can.

From lunch, we trekked back across town to let the jet lagged travelers nap, while I caught up on some work.  An afternoon at the apartment was a nice change of pace and gave mom a chance to play with Sok, who has grown into a full-on menace.

At six, we made our way to Daofa for happy hour and gave dad a chance to try beerlao on ice.  Mom joined Kiki and I in a glass of pastis before we all made our way to Makphet for dinner.  Despite calling and being told that there was no availability without a reservation, we were seated quickly and Mom and Dad got their first taste of traditional Lao food.  As always, the food was delicious and we overate, entering into a self induced food coma.

Exhausted, we returned home where mom and I indulged in an episode of Downton Abbey that only the pirated DVD store sells. There are perks to living in Laos!

The Foodie Group

Despite an almost disastrous connection in Bangkok, Mom and Dad finally made it to Vientiane.  I went to the airport to pick them up after my first dinner out with the Vientiane Foodie Group.  This group, which I joined on Facebook in August, meets every thursday for dinner at a preselected location.   Having not actually every been to one of the get togethers, Andy and I headed out and arrived at Lao Garden just in time.  The group was huge, over twenty people, and we had to drag more tables over to make room.  It was interesting to meet so many other young people and I enjoyed finding out what other people do here in Vientiane.  After about an hour and a half of waiting for our food, I got the yellow curry I ordered and it was fabulous, even better than Kung's (but almost three times the price).  Rushing to eat, I bid farewell to my new friends and headed to the airport.

The airport post ASEM looks so much different from when I arrived almost 3 months ago.  The road is paved, the parking lot has painted lines and there is even a little cafe in the arrivals terminal.  I was just on time and after walking through the Lao equivalent of customs, I greeted them on the other side.  

We took the cab back to the apartment, which mysteriously had no power since the afternoon.  Having already complained to security about it once and received a glass of beer and a candle in compensation, I decided there was nothing to do until the morning.  Bor pen nyang I guess.

Mom and Dad met Sok, acquainted themselves with the apartment by candlelight and headlamps and the two jet lagged travelers promptly passed out.  

BeerLao, a candle and a torch.  The Lao solution to no power.

Learning Curve

I think this photo sums up my everyday challenges here in Laos.  

Luckily sticky rice is eaten by balling it up with your hands and eating it as finger food.  What we're they thinking?!?

Festival of Lights

So I realize that Chanukah is only a couple weeks away, but I'll celebrate the other festival of lights when the time comes.  This time I'm talking about That Luang Festival. Held during the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, this festival is one of the largest in Laos and the most important in Buddhism.

Wednesday was a national holiday and with the day off work, I was determined to make my way to the festival to watch the procession and join in the commotion.  I was told that over 5,000 monks gather at 5 am to process in and receive alms at the That.  Unfortunately, I fell asleep at 9 pm on tuesday without setting an alarm and by the time I woke up, if was far to late to even think of biking across town.  Instead, I enjoyed my day off reading my book on the patio and later in the afternoon, met my friend Michelle for a drink on her rooftop terrace.

Pha That Luang in its golden glory

Feeling guilty about skipping all of the That Luang festivities, Michelle and I decided to venture over in a tuk-tuk to witness the 7 pm candle lighting ceremony.  The entire area was mobbed, but we made our way towards the That and were able to watch the monks lighting rows of candles that had been strung up around the higher steps.  By 7, more and more people had begun to climb around us, offering wax castles and flowers to the monks.  We tried to walk around for a better view, but it was hard to see over the large wall that was keeping the public out of the That grounds.  Not sure what we were waiting for, we went to go find something to drink and as soon as we stepped under a tent, it started to rain.  Before the big downpour hit, we made our way to a tuk-tuk and were waiting in traffic to get back to city center.  Despite the wet conditions, the Lao proceeded to try and have a fireworks show which was sad to say the least.  And I'm not blaming it on the weather.

Monks (in orange) lighting candles at the base of the steps

We made it back to town and decided to try out the Korean restaurant on our block.  To be honest, it wasn't as good as everyone kept telling me, but maybe we'll order differently if there's a next time.

Cheers to good friends and golden temples!

My Art Days Are Numbered

I finally got the drawings back from the art college and the poster is in progress!  Just to give a little sneak preview, this is what the drawings look like.  They're a lot better than my chicken scratch rough copies, although I know they would have ended up on the fridge anyways!

The goal with the poster is to both advertise and fundraise for the War Victims Medical Fund (WVMF).  This fund covers the cost of transport after a UXO accident, emergency medical care, family support and follow-up care with rehabilitation.  We are hoping to have the final poster up and printed by the end of the year!

  

UXO accident and transportation

Emergency Medical Care

Family support: food stipend during hospital stay

Aftercare including rehabilitation and psychosocial support

We tried to make these images accessible to a wide audience of both victims, villagers, hospital administrators, doctors, nurses, families of victims and potential donors.  I would love any feedback you have, just comment, Facebook at  Sticky Rice and Socialism or email me!

Breaking (Dawn Part II) Buses

After recovering from way too much eating on Thursday and the end of the work week on Friday, Kiki and I decided to plan a trip to Thailand on Saturday.  Since she had to do a visa run anyways, it made sense to do a day long adventure.

Having promised a Mailly family skype session, I was up at 6:45 am making coffee and trying to keep my eyes open.  Two hours and many faces later, Kiki and I headed out the door to the Talat Sao bus station.  We were hoping to catch a bus directly to Udon Thani, but because they only sell tickets the day of, it was sold out until the afternoon.  We took our chances of catching one once in Thailand and got on the local bus to the friendship bridge.  

Immigration was really quiet and we both made it through the border police very quickly.  We caught a bus across the bridge, filled out our Thailand entry forms and made our way through the final checkpoint.  We were quickly offered rides for $15 directly to Udon but instead got a tuk-tuk to the bus station and proceeded to wait for the next hour for the bus.  It wasn't as abad as it sounds because we got to sit on the AC bus munching on banana chips and newly discovered dried kiwi slices.  The bus finally left the station en route to Udon.

Just outside the city limits we heard a loud popping noise and were told to get off the bus.  Many people were shuttled into tuk-tuks and Kiki and I hopped into another one (our first female driver!) to the shopping center.  We're pretty sure there was nothing wrong with the bus, but that the drivers get commissioned to shuttle falangs around town.

We arrived at the mall and it was like stepping into another world.  The bottom floor food court had a Dunkin Donuts and the grocery store carried everything from Heinz ketchup to Kiki's favorite biscuits. Having very few baht to our name, we found an exchange counter to switch over some money.  The bank was very careful and insisted on copying Kiki's passport with the money we were changing.  It looked like a wanted and reward sign...

Wanted!

As planned, we went upstairs and bought tickets to go see Twilight, the only movie showing in english.  Kettle corn in hand, I entered the theater with VERY low expectations and I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised.  In any case, it was great to just enjoy the AC, comfy seats and big screen.

Not sure when the last bus was leaving Udon for Vientiane, we left the mall and walked to the bus station, stopping to take pictures in front of the Christmas tree and decorations.  When we got to the station, we found that the last bus was leaving in 5 minutes.  We got so lucky!

With her striped shirt it's like "Where's Waldo" Christmas Edition

The journey back was uneventful and significantly quicker than the ride there.  Now we know to catch the direct bus and get to Talat Sao early. We arrived back to the city around 9 and decided to try the new Turkish restaurant for dinner.  Perhaps one of the best meals each of us have had in Laos! 

We will definitely return for hummus...