Hello everyone!!
So the wifi at our hotel is absolute crap. I typed this at our restaurant and posted it, now I am on the computer trying to upload photos. If there are no photos below, I apologise. The internet here is beyond a joke! It just took me fifteen minutes to log in and get to this page. Don't know why they bother!!!
So today we did a tuk tuk tour for 3 hours and saw a few of the main
sights of Vientiane. First we went to the Victory Gate, which looked a
lot like an Asian version of the Arc de Triomphe! We walked through and
saw some gardens and some fountains went off which was quite pretty.
Next we went to the Golden Temple. I don't know the exact names of
everything as our guide didn't speak English. The weird thing in Laos is
that Quinny is not allowed to come with us during the day. The police
here are corrupt and if they see a group of tourists they target the
guide, take them away and fine them $2000 because they know we can
afford it. But the golden temple was a bit dirty, still impressive
though! We looked at some other buildings nearby and saw a reclining
Buddha and some artwork.
Next we went to a temple, I went through the gate and a Lao man asked
for a photo with me. I've no idea why, it's so humid here that my hair
looks like Hermione in Harry Potter 1 and I'm just constantly covered in
sweat hahaha. Afterwards he asked where I was from, I said "Australia"
and he looked at me blankly. Then I said in my best bogan Aussie voice
"G'day mate!" And he replied "Ohhh that one!" Hahaha. Very funny!!! Next
Jo took a photo of me with the temple, and a group of Chinese tourists
photo bombed me!! It's hilarious! We looked at the relics in the temple,
then went outside only to discover our tuk tuk driver had left us there
to take a group of Chinese tourists somewhere. We had no idea where we
were and he made us wait 10 minutes. So as a result when he took us back
to the hotel, we refused to pay the full amount. He wasn't impressed
but maybe he'll learn now that when you have a tour group you don't
leave them!!!
We had lunch at a Swedish Pizza House (a very strange combination
especially when you consider we are in Laos!). Sometimes you just need
some western food after so many noodle, rice and soup dishes. I ate an
entire pizza, my tummy is well and truly back in action!
We got on the bus but were missing Natalie and Emma who went elsewhere
for lunch. We were meant to meet at 1.30pm and it got to 1.50pm and they
were still nowhere to be found. Quinny was quite rude at this stage.
He's a great guide but he gets so impatient when anyone is even 2
minutes late. It really annoys all of us. He made some comment about
'Natalie isn't smart and she asks too many questions' which is really
uncalled for as Natalie speaks English as a second language (German is
her first) and she converses fluently with all of us. A few of us had a
go at him and stood up for her. Have lost a bit of respect for him now.
If he said something like that about me, I'd definitely confront him
about it. He kept saying we would leave without them, I said I would be getting off the bus too if that were the case. We are meant to be 'family' - no one should get left behind!! Eventually they came back and it turned out a tuk tuk driver
had taken them to the complete wrong hotel and they had been super lost!!
So we were on our way at 2pm and arrived Vang Vieng about 5.30pm. Half an hour out of our day wouldn't kill us! Don't know why he stresses so much.
Our
hotel is very basic but I think I just have to get over it haha. We have
mozzie nets over our beds but mine is full of holes. I have bobby
pinned it to within an inch of its life. Hopefully it keeps them out!!!
The view out the window is incredible and reminds me of Lauterbrunnen in
Switzerland (made me think of you Mum!).
We went to the travel agent tonight. Laura, me, Emma, Tom and James are
going kayaking and trekking and swimming in a waterfall tomorrow. The
rest of the group are going tubing and kayaking. I wasn't up for that,
far too many Aussies have died and I'm not interested at all. Be proud
mum, I didn't cave to peer pressure! Was adamant the whole time that I'm
not doing it. We may be going hot air ballooning in the next place, but Quinny has assured me it's safe here, I only do things he recommends (FYI - tubing is definitely not one of them).
We had dinner at an Irish pub (weird choice there by Quinny) and I had Pad Lao, which was really spicy to the point I had to ask for a glass of milk and so did some of the others!!!
I'm not really sure about here, heaps of bogans around, it's a bit like a
schoolies atmosphere. Quite trashy really. I think tomorrow will be great though!
OK. Have spent another twenty minutes trying to do photos. This is RIDICULOUS lol. It's slower than our dial up was in 1999. Never again will I take decent wifi for granted. So there will be no photos tonight. I will try and get on this computer to post again tomorrow night with no photos. Then hopefully the night after that there will be good wifi in Luang Prabang which is a much bigger town. Vang Vieng is very small. I promise I will post all the photos then in date order!!!
Lots of love to all
Claire and Laura
Xoxox
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