#38

Finally I have more visited countrys in my belt than years. From Vinh, a sleepy Vietnamese town fairly close to the border, we passed customs and a little river and entered Laos.
Though somewhat similar to its neighbours Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, Laos differs significantly on one important issue: The population is merely 6 million, with its capitol Vientiane sporting rouhgly 600 000, making Laos by far the least crowded place in South East Asia. With three major peoples, the Lao Loum (Low Lao*), the Lao Theung (Middle Lao*) and the Lao Sung (High Lao*), many different tribes, and influences from all the neighbours, Laos is a cultural melting pot.
First stop of this Laotian** Leisure Line was Vientiane, thus spelled as the French thought appropriate to spell Wieng Chan, meaning city of sandelwood. A cosy little capitol, with a high concentration of international eateries, including a Scandinavian Bakery, spread along what would have been a rather picturesque riverfront walk, had the Mekong not been so low due to dry season.
With Beerlao's dark lager in the glass, the Vientianese nightlife was explored. As often is the case, the bars tend to close at midnight (or often even earlier), but one hard-to-find joint didn't: The bowling alley was open (as far as we know) all night, and served as the watering hole for the locals.
A morning city walk took us to some local sights, including That Dam stupa, Wat Si Saket temple (housing almost 7000 buddhas), the presidential palace and Patuxai, which is basically a Laotian** Arc de Triomphe.
As a result of primarily American involvment during their war against Vietnam, Laos suffers from one of the highest concentration of unexploded and undetected cluster bombs in the world. Ever since the war ended, the Lao have had the constant threat of accidently treading on one of the remaining bombies, as they call them. By accident, or by desperately and ignorantly collecting the bombs for scrap metal, millions have been killed, maimed or otherwise seriously injured since 1975. That is why the COPE foundation exists; to educate the locals on the dangers, to inform the rest of the world of the situation, to work on banning landmines and clusterbombs globally, to rehabilitate victims and to manufacture aid such as prostethics and wheelchairs. A visit to COPE was conducted before having lunch and dessert.***
Ah, lunch: Water buffalo filet, grilled with perfection to medium rare with crispy wedgies and smooth, creamy mushroom sauce. Everyone at the table got their orders at the same time, precisely as they had ordered, and even to the right person! Excellent service and the tastiest buffalo I've ever had. In Laos.
Ah, dessert: The Scandinavian bakery offered strong, hot, black coffee and semlor. So, yeah, I had a semla. With whipped cream on the tip of my nose afterwards, as per old tradition.
Too much whipped cream and the gym should be your next destination. In Laos, they've taken the SE Asian practice of public park based aerobics to the next level; in the vicinity of the plaza used for group excercise, the park is conveniently equipped with gym machines. Anyone who wants their sixpacks, or their bicebs tuned, or simply get rid of those extra lovehandles, head down to Royal park and work it out!
After walking, not along the Mekong, but actually on its riverbed, watching the due to slight fog caused by the burning of vegetation not too impressive sunset, dinner and drinks, the last night in this cosy and wonderfully relaxed capitol was over, and with my bag of 'Godis' from IKEA the public bus (although pretty much every passenger was a backpacker) took off towards Vang Vieng.
*) Named thus, not according to social status, but rather to altitude
**) Pronounced Lay-ocean, naturally
***) Or should I say 'fika'?