"- And I've seen pretty people disappear like smoke...."

Vientiane.... Sounds like a girls name... The capital of Laos is still very French in its Indochine way... I got myself a nice Cafe au lait and a fresh croissant, when I came rolling in this morning at 5:30....!

After some really nice days, yes.. it did pick up considerably after my last entry... And I did meet some really nice people in Tad Lo... Two English couples and a Finnish guy, who was a professional storyteller... And what an enchanted place to be: Tad Lo, this one horse (But loads of cows, pigs and chicken!) town on the border of the river and a very nice waterfall... Rented my self a small, very basic, bungalow ( no shower, only by pail!) and ended by for staying there for three days... One morning I woke up by the sound a cow and her calf makes when they rip up the grass from under the stilts of the house...

Then I got a ticket for the so called VIP bus from Tad Lo - Pakse - Vientiane... At the palmhut, also selling live snakes and lizards, potatoes, onions, washingpowder and good, good coffee....! It was leaving, well supposed to leave at 16:30, so I hiked down to the main road at 15:00 hrs.... Ended up waiting for two and a half hours before the bus finally rolled in... at Tad Lo central, just where the ducks and the black pigs cross the road....

In Pakse we'd to change for the night ride to Vientiane... Now what are the odds to have to share your seat with a morbidly obese person in Laos? Everyone around is thin as sticks!! But yeah... I just won the national lottery and found my self confined to half of a seat, because of my having to sit next to the only fat person of the whole of Laos for the next 11 hrs... Not only was this person big, but she also radiated pure heat! Very strange feeling, like sharing a bed with a small warm kid in a cold room... You're freezing on one side and which ever part of you, who unwillingly mind you, touches the other body is just burning up...

Great ride... There must be some special hell, invented for the person who dreamed up bus transport in Asia: Loud local (or Thai = Sob stories about brokenhearted girls/boys) pop music going nonstop, karaoke DVDs on a loop/or a dubbed Hong-kong Kung Fu movie, also on eternal loop, noodles dripping with fish sauce served up at 2 in the morning, loud beeping of the horn, whenever overtaking something that moves within a kilometer of the actual road and unexplained stops in the middle of nowhere/or a restaurant in the middle of nowhere... The bus does not move until the owner deems that enough money has been spent in his/her establishment... This has pretty much been the panorama of traveling by bus over longer distances ( This meaning more than an hour!) in Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam and now in Laos... I personally would like to find the person, who invented this "Passenger oriented wellness" and send him\her on a never ending bus ride through Southeast Asia until this person is begging on their crying knees for mercy... As I almost did this morning...

But then Vientiane came into view, and I had the very good fortune to meet up with Irene from Canada, but of Philippine origin and we are sharing a room here and going out for dinner at "Sticky Fingers"... Tomorrow I'll fly way up north; Luang Nam Tha - The Burmese/Chinese border and make my slow descend to Luang Prabang, where I'll get a slow boat to Thailand (2 days on the Mekong)

- By the way, I met the danish girl (again) on the Tuktuk coming into town, this morning.. we tried to make it a day together, the three of us, but we had the misfortune to start talking about the danish emigration laws.. and as I understood by her choice of words, that she agrees with Pia Kjaersgaard, who has very xenophobic standpoints.. - I sort of drifted my own way through town which is absolutely lovely.. Old wooden houses of max. 3 floors high, old derelict french villas ( but also some gloriously restored from near ruins!) and a "laisse faire" of the inhabitants, that now suits me just fine... After a short siesta.. I Stumbled in the soaring heat (It hasn't rained for three days, now) down to the small riverside restaurants with a view of Thailand and had a great afternoon Mango shake... And now my inner dinner bell tolls - Or maybe I'm just in love?

Sunday on my mind.....on a tuesday in June!

Okay, so this is Laos ? If coming here on the plane would give you any clues... Then all three of us, only outnumbered by the crew would give it up!
I'm in Pakse, South Laos and by the looks of it it's like perpetual Sunday around here... No 'Motos', no Tuktuks, not that many people and all is very, very quiet.... After all, this 'city' has an international airport -Totally empty.. But it's there! Went to a couple of the cheaper Guesthouses, but settled on The Salachampa- being a bit more expensive... But; It's an old french villa, with wooden floors, white starched sheets, a walk in closet (filled up with ancient suitcases!) and a brand new bathroom (Which is nice, The french not known for their good plumbing) It's huge rooms with high ceilings and windows with wooden shutters.....=20 $ And it's pure luxury! The backpackers prefer Mr.Vong's place, which only costs you: 4,50$ (with a shared bathroom) But today being today... I decided to give my self the gift of old style colonial comforts...!

Tuesday the JUne 17th. has so far been okay, me being a bit on the wobbly side; It's 5 years today, that Amadeu decided to leave us for a better place... So when Mr.Nol presented me with the sweetest 'goin' away' present.. I quickly had to hide behind my fake Ray Ban Aviator shades, saving face is alfa omega in these parts..... That family being so nice to me... I could only find a tin of Danish Butter Cookies in Siam Reap's most prestigious super market to give them... It sported 'Big Ben' and the guards of Tivoli gardens on the lid... But still... It's one of the few good things of being a Dane on the road... Butter Cookies is avaible EVERYWHERE in the world!
We had some breakfast together, before leaving for the airport... Apparently leaving the world behind, and entering " the Promised land -The land of milk and honey" Where the girls are wearing the most exquisite silks for sarongs, the coffee is divine and no one bothers you... I might not come again! As people has said before me of Laos; The only bad thing about it, is that you have to leave.... at some point!

I see it this way; We all (tourists 'en masse') wants to be the first and only white person around, finding 'unspoiled havens' from our own busy world, but we all want the amenities and luxury 'add ons' of being the last..... I think, some how I've found that special place.... And this is only my very first impression... No hotels, spa's and mighty resorts... No one speaks a word of English and no one really cares.... As laid back as it gets before slipping in to a comatose state...

Tomorrow I' ll decide whether to sail downstream of The Mekong to Don Khong/ Don Det = 4 thousand Islands, with the fresh water dolphins or to take a bus to Tat Loe... A waterfall on the
Bolaven Plateau (Where the coffee grows and where some of the old Ho Chi Min trail is still visible....) Ahr... I can smell the fried plantains being about finished! ( big bananas - not sweet and only eaten cooked!)... I'm off to have some late lunch!