you have to say about your day is that the Vietnamese Consulate didn't
steal your passport, it wasn't that great of a day.
We ate very tasty rice soup and noodle soup at a small shop next to
our wi-fi joint, Vista. Then we went to Vista for more internet. We
have basically given up on Vientiane as a city and we just spend all
day doing internet chores. Our waiter asked for help with "factbook,"
which we eventually understood to be FaceBook. Robert helped him
install Firefox and the FacePad add-on so that he could download
albums of pictures from Facebook. The guy was very thankful and Robert
was glad to help.
We still had hours to kill before we could pick up our visas, so we
went for lunch. See how exciting Vientiane is? We did find a good
lunch spot though. The place was called Makphet and it was a charity
organization that trains former street kids for the hospitality
industry. It was a little pricey, but for a good cause. We got a three
dip platter (Jeow Maklen, Jeow Head and Jeow Mak Keua) and Lao style
buffalo and potato stew (Op Sin Kwai). Robert really liked the stew,
which reminded me of goulash and we ate a fair bit of the dips, but
they were a little too exotic for my taste buds - they seemed
well-prepared and gourmet though. The parent company is called Peaun
Mit ("friends" in Lao) and they also have two restaurants in Phnom
Penh, Cambodia: Ramdeng and Friends the Restaurant). Interesting
organization, if you want more info about them:
friends-international.org
Next we collected our passports, yay! We holed up in our room for a
while, watching TV and washing the dust off while avoiding getting
mosquito bites on the delicate places. We barely made it out for a
late Indian dinner.
Overall, we are excited to move on to Vietnam and we splurged to book
a flight there tomorrow. The alternative would be to take a bus for 24
hours, the drivers of which are purported to stop in the middle of
nowhere to renegotiate the fair that was already set and paid for
before the bus left. It didn't seem like the most enjoyable way to
spend 24-hours. The flight was $200 US each, which kills our budget
for a few days, but I think it will be worth it to get out of Laos and
into Vietnam quickly and with as few hassles as possible. That being
said, the hassles in Vietnam are supposed to be monumental. TravelFish
said, "you will get ripped off. Don't take it personally, budget for
it." sweet!
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