This morning Laura and I went to the Hoa Lo Prison while most of the others nursed a hangover after what was a really fun night!!!! Hoa Lo was over the years used by the French to imprison rebels and revolutionaries trying to rise against the French rule of Vietnam. Later on it was used to imprison prisoners of war/American soldiers during the Vietnam war. Have been meaning to mention also that Vietnamese people refer to the war as the American war. The Americans sarcastically nicknamed the prison the 'Hanoi Hilton'. It saw some pretty brutal treatment of prisoners over the years, including torturing, starvation and even the use of a guillotine that we saw inside. It turns out that John McCain who ran against Obama in 2008 was imprisoned here. We found the prison museum really interesting but it didn't take as long as we thought!!!! We were finished by 10.30am.
When we got back to the hotel we were tired and hot, and had time to kill before our 1.30pm bus to the airport. So we hung out with Lou, Emily and Rhi in Lou and Emily's room for a bit and had a good chat. Then we all went down for lunch, but Laura and I had about $6 to our name today so we survived on a loaf of bread and cheese which cost us $3 all together, as we didn't want to have to get more Dong out of the ATM.
We all said goodbye to Nina at the hotel except me, because I completely forgot she wouldn't be getting on the bus too. But I have promised we will catch up for dinner when I'm in Denmark in July, as she lives not far at all out of Copenhagen!!! :) Leah caught the bus with us to the airport because she was flying to Bangkok about the same time. We all went to the airport and checked into our flight. My case now weighs 19.9kg. When I left it weight 14.8kg. I have a 20kg limit on the way home, think I'll have to put some heavier things in my hand luggage!!! I've gone a bit crazy buying presents for me and others, everything is so cheap here!!!
Spent my last Dong on a block of chocolate and then we boarded our flight with Laos Air, which was really comfy and we even got some food and drink! Just over an hour later we landed in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. None of us really know much about Laos and had no idea what to expect. First impression - hot and lots of Mosquitos! It was 30 degrees at 7pm still, yuck!!! We got our visas, for some reason Australians were $5 cheaper than people from the UK. How weird!! We boarded a bus and drove to our hotel. Apart from the heat I quite like Vientiane. It's not manic like Vietnamese cities. 90 million people live in Vietnam, only 6.6 million live here. Ahhhh personal space once again!!! No one toots at you in the street, no one runs up to you pressuring you to buy things. It's a lot more peaceful.
We had dinner nearby, the local specialty of Laos is barbecued meat. The new girl who joined our tour in Hanoi (Elise, who is from America!) and myself shared barbecued chicken and beef, fried rice with chicken and noodles with vegetables. All was nice except the beef which was actually like trying to chew old boots. Mum, remember when I was little and would whinge that meat was too tough sometimes? Tonight I literally would chew for 3 minutes and not really get anywhere haha. I had an apple smoothie as well though which was absolutely incredible, very refreshing.
Afterwards we ventured to the night markets. Went a bit nuts here and once again added to the luggage weight!! Got my magnets of course like I do in every city, as well as some more anklets, pictures and a present for Ash (not saying what though Ash, it's a surprise :) ). As I said though there was a huge contrast between everywhere else and Laos. In the other three countries people would run up to you "buy this buy this" which scares me off. Here I had to approach the vendor. Much better!
We all absolutely loved Vietnam, its history, its scenery and its people. I can't believe how fast the 12 days there went. But it's great to experience a new culture and once again have to adjust to new currency, customs and language!
Tomorrow we are doing a city tour then departing for Vang Vieng about 1.30pm.
See you in Vang Vieng!
Love to all
Claire and Laura
Xoxox
PS: Today marks country number 25 that I have travelled to. Considering apart from New Zealand we are ages away from everything, this is a pretty good effort!!! May there be many many more to come.
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