VIENTIANE, LAOS

I presume everyone is aware where that is right … So I’m not gonna start with it’s location except that it is the capital of Laos. Am lazy that much. Upon our arrival, we discovered that it is the dry season resulting the Mekong being half dried up! I mean it literally. HALF OF ITS SIZE WERE DRY LIKE THE DESERT! No kidding. Also, we learnt that the Mekong River is border to Thailand. So yeap, immediately after the Mekong River stands Thailand. Although there’s a sandbag in the middle of the Mekong River but that doesn’t really count. I was kinda excited the night before (as usual) and only got about 3.5 hours of sleep. I thought I would be dead tired when I woke up but when YL came to pick us up with the cab (a very comfortable one) I was delighted to see them and I was my usual chatty self. *beam* That’s the thing with AirAsia flights, it’s freaking early rendering passengers waking up as early as 4 or 5 am! But I guess that’s travelling!

The Laotian people are really, really nice. When I was walking in the city centre, having food, sipping cocktail & purchasing items, I didn’t get the in-your-face-tourism thingy at all. Even when it comes to shopping, they aren’t crude like the Vietnamese nor pushy like the Thai. They seem really down to earth and have a gentle disposition. Oddly, I felt safe walking in Vientiane and there’s no such thing as bag snatchers, like here in KL. And the cocktails concoctions and FOOD are to die for. And cheap too! We were really lucky as there’s this place called The Spirit House, located just next to our hotel. It has about er … I would say about 40 odd of its own cocktail concoctions and they were SUPER DARN good! I haven’t had anything so good as compared in KL before. As for food consumption, the Laotian consumes an abundance of vegetables. And I do mean a lot. Most dishes, whether you are having just a simple soupy noodle, steamboat, rice etc … it is always accompanied by a plate of fresh, raw vegetables and this includes minty leaves and coriander which is my favourite. Their local food rarely contain anything rich in carbohydrate, except rice which it is not their preferred diet and so are pretty healthy. Even their noodles are vermicelli and not the yellow noodles. It’s no wonder the Laotian people are so slim. And I do mean slim. I didn’t even see a single plump person. All in all, I enjoyed everything from the food, to the drinks, to the spa, to the walking & shopping tremendously! I recommend you lot to go as it is always interesting to see the lives of the third world country. Laos is still pretty much undeveloped and is still in its origin. Many people have asked me before as to the reason why Laos was the chosen destination. I don’t quite know myself but I think it’s best to vary your travel destination within a bit of glamour to a bit of rough edge. If all were the same, it would indeed be boring innit! Also, at this crucial credit crunch in time, places like Laos doesn't make a big hole in your bank account.

Beau Rivage Mekong

I wasn’t so sure about the hotel that we were booked in, predominantly because of it’s pink painted walls. But after we checked in and when we were showed our rooms, I like it immediately. You see, there were 2 theme colours for each of the rooms, i.e. either all in baby blue or pink. From the online pictures, the pink room looked a bit bright. So I had a mental note to request for a blue coloured room should it indeed look funny. But the pink were a light shade and it has a soothing effect. Whereas the baby blue room looked a bit gloomy to me. The layout of the room was done very aptly because every corner of the room were well used. The service was good and as it is located in a discreet area (albeit not a long walk into the city centre) we didn’t have much noise which meant we slept well every night. The Beau Rivage Hotel was rated amongst the top 3 hotels to stay in Vientiane by tripadvisor.com. Indeed, disappointed we were not. It is opened and managed by an Australian ex-civil servant. He came to Laos about 5 years ago and hasn’t left since.

      I really like the idea of those reading lights. Handy!

                       Frontage of Beau Rivage Mekong.

Mekong River

 Walkable dried Mekong river. The dry season will last till November.

 

                                    Sunset by Mekong.

  

  So dry that they even made a plantation out of the riverbed.

 

 

Food

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           (Clockwise) Steamed cutlet fish, raw vege & kaolaap.

 

 Vermicelli noodle soup with pork + raw vegetables. This is my fav!

      Unnamed corner kopitiam, where we had the above noodles.

 

Vietnamese steamboat with scrumptious sausages! I was too busy eating.

Rice paper for wrapping, lots of mint, coriander and the sauces are delicious!

Vieng Savanh (wherein we had the steamboat) at the Chinatown area.

Got these at the Pimphone store for RM10 each. Have yet to try.

 

BBQ pork ribs for RM12 at The Spirit House. It’s so YUMMMY!

        Castro mojito, wherein Beerlao is added. A good drink!

The boombastic Margerita at The Spirit House. Honestly, is it the best Margerita I’ve ever had. We started drinking from 5pm onwards on an everyday basis. Looks like I gotta do a big detox now.