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Relaxing in Vientiane

Posted by Stuart at 11:54 PM on November 29, 2003

We ended our first full day in Laos at a nightclub called "Future". An Irish guy who we first met at the border crossing was at the club as well. "What a great day!" he raved. "I ate pastries at the Scandinavian Bakery, then walked around town, then went to the sauna, and now I'm having a great time being one of the few white people at this Lao disco." The funny thing was that our day was exactly the same as his and we liked it just as much as he did.

The only thing we could add was the tour of Vientiane in a pickup truck driven by my good friend Odai, who lives outside of Vientiane. We visted the main tourist spots of the Pratuxai Mionument and That Luang. I had been to both before, so I wasn't as busy taking pictures as Mark, Sarah, and Jackie were. But I was still able to take a few good ones.

We then headed to my favorite Lao sauna. There is just something amazingly refreshing about sitting in a hot, herbal steam room, then splashing down with some ice cold water, then relaxing under the trees sipping warm tea, then doing it all again (and again and again). The fact that the whole place is full of chatty friendly Lao people makes it that much more fun.

Next on our busy schedule (heh) was drinking Beer Lao and watching the sun set over the Mekong. As I have said many times before, this is one of my favorite SE Asian activities. Then it was time for dinner and a trip to the disco. The disco was the usual set up with tables and young Lao people sitting around drinking whisky and subtlely bopping to the high-energy dance music. We caused quite a scene: five white people dancing with arms flailing, booties shaking, gettin' down western-style.