After an evening and most of the day mooching about KL and a short flight on fantastic Air AsiaX, we finally found ourselves in the glorious Vientiane International Airport - a small, but relatively new terminal with an efficient, if a little casual, customs and immigration system.
Even at 5:30 pm, the heat was slowing us to an Asian shuffle as we ventured out to the main terminal gates to pick up a tuk-tuk to town. Taxis from the airport are an outrageous $6.00!!! A tuk-tuk was supposed to be about $2.50. It was not just the money! We really wanted to take a tuk-tuk to our city just to get in the swing of things. As usual, we headed off the wrong way along one of those typical Asian streets with bike parts, dust, food stalls, and sleepy dogs... you just got to love it! Anyhow. we finally waved down what turned out to be one of the dumbest tuk-tuk drivers in Laos. Dumb? We wonder. He did manage to screw about $5.00 out of us. After a number of stops to ask directions from fellow drivers, he finally stopped somewhere in the vicinity of our hotel.
Ah. Back in the 'old Asia' we know and love. After the clinical cleanliness of Japan, it's good to get some dirt between the toes and the faint smell of rotting food in the nostrils.
Laos has a reputation for being laid back. It sure is. Compared with Vietnam, it is positively asleep. The traffic drifts along at a sedate 40kph, people shuffle from one shade tree to another. Life is enjoyed at a much slower pace here. The best the street hawkers can manage is a bit of a half-hearted wave of their goods in your general direction. Even the few tuk-tuk drivers who manage a call, let out a sigh of relief when we wave them away. Their sleep won't have to be disturbed. The valiant soldiers of the Lao People’s Liberation Army lounge about on street corners and in security pill-boxes, chatting, playing cards and trying hard to 'see nothing'.
The sites of Vientiane aren't well known and there is probably a good reason why. They aren't too spectacular, but the slow pace of the street life and the interesting people more than compensate. Not to mention the prices!!!
