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The old French capital of this part of the world is nothing like the fabled city of Luang Prubang further north. Here is a little capital city that lies on the north bank of the Mekong River and happily ticks over. It seems quite happy being itself. No grand gestures to try and impress.
But it is slowly changing. You can see glimpses of the past here and there. Most noticeable are the old style communist buildings hiding beneath layers of newly acquired advertising. Commerce and capitalism are here to stay! Spend baby, spend! The only significant gesture and nod, if you will, to the past is the Laos Arc de Triumph on the main street. But this Arc is designed specifically to piss off the French. It is taller and wider and just a little bit more than the French one; but it is made from concrete. Close, but no cigar!
Our little guesthouse was stuck right in the back streets of the capital, an ease walk to anywhere, but miles from any tourist like place. Here was a place where we seemed to be aliens from another planet. We happened to bump into just one other Western in our guesthouse while we stayed here.
Lunch in a little roadside resto was interesting; a rice noodle soup with blocks of deep red coloured tofu/kidney? If anybody could tell us what these blocks are (have a look at the photo) it would definitely clear up a mystery for us! But you have got to love a place where a brand of beer is simply called BeerLao! This is also a place where the front of the house is the business and the back is the living area. Our plastic tables and chairs seemed to be part of the lounge. It was very quaint and an indicator of how business and life are intermingled here in SE Asia.
A little later, with the sun sinking and the heat dissipating, there is only one thing to do in Vientiane. Head for the river, find a perch and bring down the sun with some beerlao!
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