The wheels on the bus ...

 

December 27^th 2022, Vientiane, Laos

Well I think I am here. As a friend said – If you wanted to relax you could stay at home, but you like adventure. - Well I have had about enough adventure for the next couple of days.

Over breakfast yesterday in Bangkok I made a flight reservation using Air Asia’s app for a Lao Airlines flight too Vientiane at 2pm. Lots of time to get to the airport and jump trough the ticketing process and then of course the “formalities”.

At the baggage counter I present the e-ticket and she can’t find me in the system. Like I was expecting anything else? Of course not! Computer keys clicked and Thai exchanged among the staff. Maybe since it was booked today it isn’t in the system yet. “Where did you buy the ticket?” - Air Asia app. - “You nee to go see them” – But?!?….. - They are at counter ‘F’, you are at counter ‘S’. I broke out my binoculars and could barely make out the big ‘F’ at the other end of the terminal. - Sigh! Okay.

At ‘F’ there are two young people in Air Asia red vests, clearly marked as trainee. Blah, blah, Lao Airlines, row ‘S’ .. etc, etc. -- Blah, blah, this is Air Asia. This ping pong goes on for a few minutes. No raised voices, just each side stating their situation. At last the male trainee says come with me. So back to ‘S’.

My telephone is handed from hand to hand, more blah, blah. Finally a supervisor comes over, looks at the phone information and says “You made the reservation for tomorrow, the 27” I looked and sure a Hell, I had the wrong date. I wish I could blame it on the computer, or the airline or the clock, but I just wasn’t paying close attention when I made the reservation. I handed the Air Asia trainee a small handful of paper with the king’s picture on it and thanked him profusely.

Now to fix my mistake. The supervisor says the entire flight is booked for today. Maybe I could go on the standby list. Okay that is an option. The awaiting hotel in Vientiane what booked pre paid booked for two nights and I had already requested them to change it to tonight and tomorrow, I can’t do that again. Fine, please put me on the Stand-by list.

A very short time later the supervisor came over and said I was very luck and they had a cancellation and I had a seat. There was a change fee (of course) of 30 USA bucks, but that is a small price to pay from my point of view at this moment. Some fooling around with dollars to Bhat and I watch the conveyor belt swallow my checked luggage.

Thai TSA is like every other TSA and even though I am nearly in my bra and panties I still beep. Uh … elbow repair bionic implant perhaps? That did the trick. Next stop, and I do mean stop – Exit Immigration. I checked my watch when getting in line 1205. Four officers for general public, and one for crew members. AS expected from the bureaucracy the Crew Member officer can not even think about asking a normal passenger to come to his kiosk. 1245 and I was past that gauntlet.

The plane was on time, only 15 minutes late and it did look like every seat in the house was filled. I doubted that I was very lucky when the supervisor said that, now I was a believer.

In Laos more paperwork and lines for Visa On Arrival, but it went pretty smoothly. A $7 (USD) taxi ride and I was at the hotel. The an at reception said he had personally allowed my last minute change of the booking and there was not charge. I am not sure what the hotel is trying to be. Maybe post modern Paris. Are deco chairs in the large wine room. Furniture that looks like it was poured when being manufactured instead of assembled. Regardless of their style. My room is very large and will do nicely for the next two nights.

With a huge relaxing sign and some horizontal time on my bed just enjoying the calm, I was here. Yes it was an adventure.

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Around 7pm I decided to venture out for dinner. There is a nice promenade along the Mekong and I knew from YouTube that there was food served along it as well as the night market. I walked along and past numerous temporary restaurants and then I was into the area which was obviously not the right direction, because there was no one and the lighting was getting spaced further and further part. A U-turn and back to a likely looking spot with fresh seafood on display and a charcoal brazier. It looked as good as any.

The menu had a seafood salad that sounded interesting. I still had a full day in case it turned out to be more than interesting. Spicy? Not Lao spicy please, but some spice please. Shrimp, octopus, unknown fish, sliced carrots, onions, bean sprouts and a great dressing. One bottle of BeerLao and water and I was in Anthony Bourdain heaven (well not quite, since he is in actual heaven, but you get the idea) It really was good. I mean really. About the equivalent of $6 Uncle Sams.

Night market was back past my hotel, I could almost make out the lights, just a few kiosks past “F”. Hundreds of 10 foot but 10 foot blue tarp covered sales areas. It was not a tourist mecca, it was for locals. Sure there was the occasional knock off handbag, or wearing apparel but t was for local consumption, bot the tourist trade. I passed thousands of people and only saw a small handful of western faces.

I wanted two things. A leash for my iPhone and a curling iron. I ordered a curling iron from Amazon a week before leaving home. AS of today it still hasn't been delivered. No luck on the phone handle, but found a curling iron. $20 USD? No. $15 USD? No. $10 USD? Fine. I probably could have gotten it for less, like $3 USD, but what the heck?

In bed by 1030pm and slept mostly until 0630 and here we are at breakfast.

Plan today is get my nails done find a Laos Lonely Planet and change some USD into some new and strange paper. I have my notes written by the staff to give to the Tuk-Tuk pilot and will head out in a second or two.