Vientiane on Steroids

After a long morning on the road from Vang Vieng, it was nice to get home.  I unpacked the myriad of fruits and vegetables we had picked up from roadside vendors and called Patty the cat lady who was planning on driving me to Kiki's to pick up Sok Dee.  

We met up at Monument Books, the landmark ex-pat bookstore downtown and drove to Km 4, making a quick stop at the vet to visit a dog who had been hit by a motor bike.  Not only was the dog having trouble walking, but it had rope burns around it's neck, suggesting it had been dragged, probably to the Vietnamese dog market.  He was a lucky guy!

Brad greeted us at the gate and I took Sok and all of her things back to the car.  We were running late and I had told Fulvia, the Italian couchsurfer I was hosting that I would meet her at the fountain at 5.  I had Patty drop me off there and greeted Fulvia cat in tow.  Luckily she loved Sok and the last two days were full of cat snuggling and playing.

We walked back the the apartment and I let Fulvia unpack her things.  She just finished her masters in Anthropology and is now on a 5 month trip around Asia.  While she began in South East Asia, she plans on hitting India, Iran and finally making the journey back to Trieste, Italy. It was great to hear about her travels and give her my little knowledge about Laos.

When Kiki got out of work at 6, we headed to the Vientiane Times to pick her up for dinner on the town.  Since I left the city, the main road in Vientiane has been shut down for a huge market and carnival that is supposed to continue until after Boat Racing festival on the 31st.  Now the city is congested (both with people and traffic) and loud. Certainly not the Vientiane I'm used to.

We met up with Kiki and walked to the Backpacker's Hostel, where two acquaintances of hers were spending the night.  They all downed a BBL and we left to join the chaos.  Kiki had already decided it was an Aashifa night, and since the wait staff already knows us there, and is aware of the vegan limitations, its always a pleasant experience.  The five of us split a couple veg dishes and it was delicious.

Deciding not to venture to another bar, Fulvia and I split from the group and ventured into the crowd.  The atmosphere is like night market on steroids, or the Big E Asia Style (and crammed on to one main street).  There are vendors selling any "Made in China" thing you could imagine, carnival rides, food stalls and more people than you could count.  There were also two music festivals happening next to each other and it quickly became a competition for sound.

We wandered around for a little while, then got overwhelmed, picked up cat food, and headed home.  Having not had a non-hostel shower in a long time, Fulvia enjoyed the accommodations of home, and of course, Sok Dee.  We called it an early night and decided to make plans the next morning.

After catching up on some facebook and skyping, we decided to go to COPE and grab brunch together before I had to head to my final boat racing practice.  COPE is an organization based in Vientiane that provides medical and psychological support to UXO victims and people with other disabilities.  The visitor center was a must-see and gave me some ideas about how to make our own center (the QLA) more user friendly.  Kiki met us there and we all biked over to Kung's for brunch.  

Kung's is famous for the sticky rice mango pancake so I told Fulvia she had to try it.  Kiki took the opportunity to finally try the Phat Lao, which is a lot like Pad Thai but without the egg (vegan success!)  While the service isn't the fastest, the food always hits the spot and since we didn't have to be anywhere until 1:45, there was plenty of time.

Fulvia and I at Kung's eating oasis

From Kung's, we biked the three blocks to Mark and Nancy's apartment (my old stomping grounds) and waited for Terry who was picking us up for practice.  On time as usual, we loaded up and drove to the village.  We were over an hour early and Kiki and I decided it was time to try the infamous juice bags the corner shop sold.  It was brutally hot and both of us were dreading being on the water, but as it was the last day we sucked it up.  

Ruth and the rest of the crew trickled in and we all received our race day t-shirts and hats.  Amazingly she was able to pull everything together and although we don't look too pretty in the boat, we'll all be matching on Tuesday!

It was our first day in the race boat and the slim wooden boat was a lot easier to move than the clunky metal one we had been practicing in.  Although it was leaking from all the seams, we rowed along and finally got into a pattern.  If all the village women actually show up for the race, it should be great!

Katie, Kiki and I sporting the new team t-shirts in front of our team banner!

Practice ended around 6 and we drove back to Mark's, where Fulvia was meeting us for dinner.  Brad had offered to cook the night before and Kiki had insisted we come over.  We biked the 15 minutes to their place and found Brad exhausted from a long day of teaching (he teaches english on the weekends). While he had gone to the market and picked up everything for dinner, the message about actually cooking hadn't gotten through so the ladies picked up the cutting boards, turned on the stove and in 30 minutes we had a great meal of glass noodles and veggie stir fry.  We have all decided that each person will host dinner once a week as its fun to cook and we need some time away from our go-to restaurants.

We ended up on their porch, drinking Spy wine and talking.  Thon, the bar owner next door, invited us over for a drink and by 11, Fulvia and I hopped on our bikes to head back into town.  Because ASEM is around the corner, November 5-7, falang curfew is becoming more enforced and I didn't want any trouble getting home. We took our time and finally, after avoiding swerving motorbikes and random road closures, made it home.  

I am happy to report that Sok Dee made it through her first day at home with no accidents and has been sleeping through the night.  Much better behaved with mom than with Aunt Kiki!

Fulvia left this morning for Vang Vieng and promised to keep in touch.  It was a great couch surfing experience for both of us and I was happy to show someone around what is quickly becoming home.

I'm off to Thailand this afternoon for some shopping with Viengmany, who is in Vientiane for the festival.  It should be interesting to see what its like as I've been told you can get anything there. There's even an english movie theater! Like anything with Viengmany, it is sure to be an adventure so stay tuned and I'l tell you all about it!

Peace, Love, Laos!

Mekong sunset after a long afternoon on the river.