1) Wait in our shanty bungalow on the lake for three days for Lao visas. This wouldn't be too bad except for the Coldplay at a gazillion decibels until 3am and also the whole complex shakes whenever the other residents (outnumbered 3 to 1 by the pimps and hookers) walk by. Then take three 12 hour bus rides up to Vientiane and hope that only one of the buses breaks down.
2) $400 and 60 minutes later be in Vientiane, courtesy Vietnam Air.
1) would probably have cost us nearly as much due to hotel costs, bus ticket costs, and the necessity of procuring some of the local offerrings to get through it, and I don't mean the girls or ladyboys. Not being broke yet, we chose 2). Phnom Penh airport was very nice and Vietnam Air treated us like VIPs, even feeding us lunch despite the flight being only 60 minutes! I only wished the flight could last longer. Naturally we ate the lunch, despite the two Dairy Queen blizzards, lasagna, and chili cheese dog we'd already consumed at the airport. Mmm, DQ.
This left us with a pleasant week's R&R at Grandma's to hang out with the family and, also very important, do laundry. They did a ceremony for us similar to the one at Nambok and we bought a pig to BBQ. This seemed like a great idea (save money, feed everyone) until Sam's cousin showed up with the live screaming pig in his arms! I plugged in my headphones and ran upstairs but that pig was loud!It was sad to say goodbye to all the family but we tore ourselves away so we could have a little time in Thailand. But not without many fond memories of Laos. Here are some of the things that I think will stick in our minds:
1. Sticky rice, naturally. Which is not only stuck in our minds but also stuck elsewhere...final goodbyes to the sticky rice may not be for months!
2. The cute little thatched houses on stilts, dwarfed by a giant old fashioned TV satellite dish attached to the side. Due to road dust and rust, the color coordination between the two is astonishing.
3. The myriad forms of animal transportation. In particular, the water buffalo in the tiny mini pickup trucks, and the goat all alone on the open roof of a full size bus.
4. Baby animals! Everywhere! Puppies, baby goats as cute as puppies, kittens, chicks, calves, baby water buffalo. I'm not entirely sure how we managed to drag ourselves away without at least one of each stuffed in our backpacks (well maybe not the buffalo.)
5. Local buses. Our final bus trip was a fitting goodbye i.e. packed like parasites in the belly of a bat out of hell. By this point I didn't even care and fought the lady next to me valiantly for my 3 inches of seat. However due to the 2 ladies already next to her on the 2.5 foot wide seat, I didn't have a lot of success.
6. Village life. The slow lazy pace, strolling next door for shampoos, shopping, etc. We'll never forget the time everyone was sitting around outside the house and, as happens many times a day, a cow walked by along the road. All of a sudden Sam's cousin jumps up: "That's my cow!
and takes off running.
7. Village food. 70 cents pho, 20 cents coffee, and all the great meals with the family, all sitting around sharing sticky rice with sticky rice, also tasty veggies, soups, bbq baby animals, ok just kidding, usually we bbq the grown-ups.
8. Our bicycles. Renting the local bikes is not the same! We'll miss our Gary Fishers but left them locked up at Grandma's to ride around there in future trips.
9. The crazy caffienated roosters crowing at all times of the night and day. The worst is when one starts, all the others start, then the dogs start barking. Or vice versa. Our attempt to find and eat the ringleader rooster unfortunately failed and he is still out there. Somewhere....
10. Family. Aunties, uncles, cousins, grandma, in-laws, 2nd cousins twice removed, next door neighbors that are fourth cousins 3 times removed somehow....We'll miss everyone a lot!
Off we go to Thailand on the Midnight Ghost (Cold as hell AC sleeper train from Nongkhai to Bangkok). See you all on the beaches of southern Thailand!
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