In Lao...

Arrived in Lao yesterday, crossing from Vietnam into Lao at the Namphon border in the early morning hours. The border was at a high elevation and it was freezing! Not literally, but probably in the low 40s or so, which was a shock to our systems. The bus ride was seemingly never-ending, nearly 24 hours from Hanoi to Vientiane. There was a pretty diverse group of tourists on the bus, from just about every Western country and Thailand (poor Thais have few other ways of returning home than by road these days). We made many stops, sometimes in the middle of nowhere, and always without warning or explanation, as the bus driver and his helpers spoke no English. So, we rarely knew what was happening: how to get our passports stamped or when we were stopping again for food or a bathroom break. Joe and I kind of kept it together, remembering other brutally long bus-rides we'd been on the past (Joe's most memorable was a 52 hour bus-ride from Brazil to Bolivia, when he was relegated to a urine-soaked seat )...But that didn't help so much, because we're older now, less patient and way less interested in roughing it. ; ) To make matters worse, we were forced to watch Vietnamese music videos/movies for hours and hours on the bus (some we watched more than once) and the music is very grating! Nasally and off-key and high-pitch. Joe says he can't think of anything less likely to have cross-cultural appeal than Vietnamese music. He said other terrible things, too, but I won't share them. He didn't get off the bus in the middle of Lao, as he threatened.

Lao is much less developed than Vietnam. There is a lot more wide open space, way fewer people, and it is hot and dry here, now. The land appears inhospitable, with lots of scrub and not much under cultivation, which is surprising in South East Asia, where almost everywhere else is wet and lush and green. Lao is also very mountainous. It is land-locked. The capital maybe be one of the smallest, world capitals anywhere: just 200,000 people. And it is super chill here. Not a lot of noise or traffic. Easy to walk around. And really pleasant temperatures. We treated ourselves to a French dinner last night (lots of French and other international food here in Vientiane), in hopes of putting our 24-hour bus ordeal behind us. There are gold and red-painted temples with pretty complexes scattered throughout town and the Mekong River runs right through the city, creating the border with Thailand. We hope to spend the next two weeks here, before returning to Bangkok (if all is well there) and meeting up with Joe's mom for Christmas.