12-23-10: Vientiane 1

It seems like we have been in this city for a very long time, but we
haven't really - three nights.

The first day our goal was to get a Vietnam visa. This was a chore for
a multitude of reasons, the first being that the embassy was a fair
walk from where we are staying. We chose to walk though because we
didn't want to haggle with the tuk-tuk drivers and we hadn't seen any
of the city yet. Then the building was under construction, gutted in
fact and full of scaffolding. Where do we go now? We walked the whole
way around it and found a sign for the consulate - would they give us
a visa? Who knows - they were closed for lunch. See what I mean? It
was a chore.

We killed time by walking to the Talat Sao Market, also under
construction, but the old market was in full swing. There was a giant
maze of covered stalls. We priced sarongs, but they wanted a lot for a
six foot length of fabric, unhemmed - 95,000 to 120,000 for a
patterned piece of fabric. We also saw the school uniform sarongs, a
black piece of fabric and the patterned band that could be sewn on at
home. Interesting that that is a school uniform. We also looked at
more sticky rice containers and a clay cooker oven - could I get it
home?? The wheels are spinning. Basically, you can get anything at
this giant market, but we bailed when we got to the fresh meat and
fish sludge section - entirely too smelly for our delicate sniffers.

We wanted to grab a bite to eat, but we couldn't find anywhere and all
the places nearby that were in the guidebook were closed! Worthless
book. We found the US Embassy though and that was comforting, even if
they wouldn't let us take a picture of it. Nearby was That Dam, the
Black Stupa, not sure what it's significance is, we just used it as a
landmark for navigational purposes. Instead of food, we got a beer for
the Robot and a lime Ginger ale for me.

Back at the consulate. No one was behind the counter, just a lot of
people waiting and working on forms. We took two forms and began
filling them out. To do this, we had to reach through the glass
partition to a counter on the other side. I got yelled at for this
later when I turned in my completed form, but the guy's English was so
bad that he couldn't really say anything, he just made
incomprehensible angry noises at me. Then I was told that I had to go
to another room to fill out my form, the chair I was sitting in was
not for me! Whatever, angry consulate man. Finally we turned in our
forms, our passports and $50 US each to be picked up the next day.
Every visa or border crossing fee has to be paid for in US, isn't that
strange?

The rest of the day was uneventful. We got indian food for dinner,
probably watched TV in our room. We only get two English movie
channels and the movies are quite terrible, romantic or slapstick
comedies invariably. We have watched several by now though, just for
something in English and something to do.

A word about our guesthouse: we are paying 90,000 K for our room, one
bed, fan, tv, shared bathroom. The bathrooms LOOK nice, but in fact,
they are infested with skeeters. I accidentally sprayed the whole room
when fumbling with the shower head that does not stay in it's hanger
notch when turned on and I must have sprayed their nest. Suddenly they
were everywhere!! I tried to spray them with the shower head, but this
just made them stronger. It was a nightmare. I streaked down the hall
and they followed me in a dark cloud. Where is Sai and his bug
zapper?! This happens every time we use the bathroom. Fun times.