Vientiane, Laos

Originally, back in Chiang Mai, myself and Jason both agreed that we weren't going to go into Laos as the bus journey was too long. We're here about two weeks and we are really glad we took the plunge. After all, we have visited most of South East Asia, so why skip countries if we don't have to! It really is such a beautiful country. The bus may have taken 33 hours, but we have all forgotten about it as soon as we arrived. We then all agreed that we were not going to bother with the capital as there is not much to do and everything is more expensive. Guess what? We're in the capital right now. Like everything you do in life, try and make the most of it. One man's hell can be another man's heaven! The bus may have only taken a few hours, but it wasn't the most comfortable of journeys as we were all squashed on a tiny little bus, like lemons, with no room to move! Unfortunately, in the capital, when it comes to accommodation, you really don't get much for your money. After checking out a few places, we eventually found the 'Funky Monkey Hostel.' Its not the Ritz but its somewhere to crash for a few nights. The people in the dorm are not the most friendliest of people. Actually, most of them are really rude and the room is covered in mosquitoes. I don't know which is worse. It's not a room that you would spend a lot of time in! The main reason we came down here was so Kathrin could get her visa for Thailand. Myself and Jason were smart. We made sure to get a double entry visa. To be fair, poor Kathrin had no reason at the time for a second visa. It's not all bad down here. It is another place to tick off our list. With Jason not feeling too good, myself and Kathrin set off in a Tuk Tuk destined for the Thai embassy. Being naive, we both thought we would be in and out. Sadly, that was not the case. We arrived and there was a long queue outside. To be fair, it did move really quickly. We thought happy days! That was until we went inside and saw all the people. We were given a number, 462. Naturally, we were curious to find out what number they were currently on. 120, and there is only two counters. Such a joke. I thought the Motor Tax Office at home was bad. Nothing could be as bad as this. On a more positive note, they do provide us with nice chairs so we can rest our little legs while we wait. That is what you call service! Ireland, take note! A few queues later and about five hours of our lives that we will never get back, we were finally on our way. On a positive, we did get to make a new friend, Zaripov from Russia, who is a really nice guy! So far, we have met some people of whom we will build strong friendships with. Our friends from Sapa, the lovely Charlie and cheeky Scoutser Shaun probably think we are stalking them, as we always seem to crop up in every place they go to. To be fair, myself, Jason and even Katarina are such nice people, who wouldn't want to be our friends? Doing what friends do, we all went to checkout a local attraction, 'Budda Park.' What an amazing place it is. The sculptures are so beautiful. It's definitely worth a visit. When you go in first, there is a building with a tree on top. The entrance in is the face of a demon. I've never had to crawl into a mouth before. It was an experience. When you go inside, there is all different levels with trapped souls in each one. The final steps up lead you to another mouth. This time you have the opportunity to crawl out and appreciate the sure splendidness' of the park, from a height. Can you guess what we all crawled into? I will give you all a clue, it's not somewhere you want to end up! Give up, it's 'Hell.' At the other end of the park, surrounded by trees stood 'Heaven,' which was represented in a much nicer building. However, you couldn't enter as the building is far too narrow. I guess we can all enter Hell, but only an elite group of us can enter the Kingdom of Heaven! Remember I told you in Vangvieng that we all got our fortunes told, but they didn't have the card representing the number I picked. Well I found the card and it was all good. Apparently I will lose something but I will find it again soon. I don't know what it means, but only time will tell! Later on that evening, all three of us went for casual drinks together. Our new friend even joined us. We all had a really could night, and it was really good getting to know Zaripov. It was funny trying to embarrass Kathrin in front of her new fancy man, just like what a big brother would do! It made everybody laugh, except for the Queen of The Alps! The next morning, and our final day in Laos, poor Jason woke up not feeling wella. The poor soldier, I hope he gets better soon! After a nice bit of food, myself and Kathrin went back to the Thai embassy to collect her visa. When we got there, we bumped into Zaripov. Luckily enough we weren't waiting around too long. For the final time for the foreseeable, all three of us got into a Tuk Tuk, destined for our hostel where we picked up Jason and went for a nice coffee together. As a nice gesture, Zaripov gave us a Rubel coin which is supposed to bring you look. And sadly, the time had come to say goodbye to Zaripov and to Laos. We didn't get to see much of the capital so I think if I am ever near, I would like to visit again!

By Andrew

#city #capital #heaven #hell