Day 3 - Let The Adventures Begin

Well actually no, we have planned to have a relaxing day beside the pool and an orientation trip only into the Old City Centre of Vientiane.

I awoke around 5.30am, Jackie struggled to wake up for 8am. Apparently she had watched 3 episodes of Bridgerton during the night.

Around 9am we went down for breakfast and were presented with a tickbox order form to complete for the waiter. Jackie selected the American breakfast of fried eggs & ham, whilst I chose the Continental breakfast of pancakes and honey both with everything on offer. We also had muesli (which was disgusting), fruit, yoghurt, a loaf of toast, orange juice and coffees. It was a very pleasant affair and we now know what to and not order tomorrow.

After breakfast we set up camp around the lovely little pool and I set about swatting up on Vientiane from my 2 Laos guidebooks, Lonely Planet and The Rough Guide To. I prefer the Lonely Planet guidebook, but unfortunately its latest edition is already somewhat out of date, because the Chinese have since built a bullet train railway through the country.

At 12.30pm, we showered and 30 minutes later we disturbed the hotel receptionist by asking to change up $100 US dollars into LAK, Laos Kip. For our $100 US dollars we received 2 million 100 thousand Kip, I don’t know if it was a good deal, but today, for the first time in our lives, we are millionaires.

We walked along the main roads down to the Mekong River in search of the highly rated (in both guidebooks) Laodi, a Rum Bar. Described by The Rough Guide To guidebook as ‘Refurbished shipping containers in front of a spooky abandoned building, riverside breezes, and local rum distilled by a Japanese resident. Laodi is hard to pin down, but easy to enjoy. And best of all, the rum, made from Lao sugar cane grown near Vientiane, is delicious; try a tasting flight, which ranges in flavour from plain to passion fruit (we like the barrel-aged "brown' and coffee)’.

The tasting flight sounded right up our street and we vowed to return that evening when it was open. We then walked along the river front road until we reached the evening market which was already starting to stir into action. We made our way past numerous temples (Wats) to Setthathilat Road described as the city’s most scenic thoroughfare with it’s shady tall trees.

It was 2pm, when we stopped at Khop Chai Deu, which translates as Thank You in Lao, bar and restaurant. It was clearly a popular westerner’s hangout, particularly with Aussies. Not our usual choice of lunch venue, but it provided welcome shaded relief from the 34 degree midday sun. We necked a total of 3 large BeerLaos and a plate of chicken satay, which was very pleasant.

After an hour or so we continued along Setthathilat Road, passing the Presidential Palace and Wat Sisaket, Vientiane’s oldest wat and the only temple spared by the invading Siamese in 1828. After passing the Haw Pha Keo museum, Jackie declared that she didn’t fancy walking much further, so we headed down to Fa Ngum Road, which ran alongside Chao Anouvong Park and headed back towards our hotel.

On the way home we stopped at a little shop and purchased a 700ml of John Henry Blue Label whisky, 3 cans of Coke Zero and a large bottle of water, all for the utterly ridiculous price of a fraction over £4.

Chuffed with our purchase, we continued home. I espied an opportunity to take a shortcut, which led us along some residential back streets with locals apparently quite surprised to see us. Unfortunately we eventually came to a grinding halt at a dead end. We then had the indignity of walking back past the surprised locals. Jackie was now not quite so chuffed!

When we finally arrived back at the hotel my watch told me that we had walked 5.26 miles. We had an hours lie down to recuperate and I managed to connect my Amazon Stick to television, which pleased me immensely.

After our 3rd shower of the day, we tested our recent whisky purchase which was remarkably palatable, then went down to reception to order a Tuk-Tuk (Kok Kok Move). Our friendly receptionist showed me the Kok Kok Move booking and asked me to photo it to confirm the driver and price, being Yeng THOR with a fare of just 42 Kip (about £1.45). THOR picked us up in his orange electric Kok Kok Move and dropped us off at the Evening Market.

Vientiane is apparently famous for its culinary scene. It has a surprisingly diverse range of places to eat and drink, including slick coffee houses, vibrant street markets, fine French patisseries and restaurants specialising in regional Lao cuisine.

We chose a an authentic looking Lao restaurant called Kataenoy. We ordered chicken and cashew nuts, crispy pork and a side of green vegetables in oyster sauce as well as steamed rice and 2 large BeerLaos. It was all utterly delicious, particularly Jackie’s crispy pork. When the bill arrived, I was slightly taken aback to discover the cost was 410,000 Kip (£14.20). It transpired that the crispy pork accounted for virtually half the bill. I was told to shut up and get over it.

We then walked along the river front to Laodi Rum Bar and took a front row table on the first floor terrace. When we were presented with the menu there was no mention of a tasting flight and the waiter couldn’t speak English. We settled for just 2 glasses of rum. Jackie chose a sweet dark rum and I chose a ginger and chilli rum. The menu suggested they came with a free mixer, so we both ordered a pineapple juice to accompany our rums.

The half-witted waiter returned with our rums as well as an orange juice and another indescribable juice that didn’t feature anywhere in the menu. Not the pineapple juices we had ordered, but we couldn’t be bothered to argue the toss. I stupidly poured my rum into the unidentified juice, then decided I didn’t like the taste of it. We drank up and left. The final insult was that we were charged for the juices.

We walked west along the river front, where we stumbled upon a number of open air riverside restaurants that we deemed worthy of a visit on another night. We then flagged down a Kok Kok Move, negotiated a price of 70,000 Kip who took us home.

We ended the evening with a nightcap on our balcony before going to bed just before midnight and setting my alarm for 2.56am.

Song of the Day - Walking In My Shoes by Depeche Mode.Baca lagi