IN VIENTIANE, LAOS

We have left Thailand. We are now in the capital of Laos, Vientiane. To get here we took a bus from Udon Thani to Nong Khai’s Tesco-Lotus, then a tuk-tuk to the Friendship Bridge, then a bus across the bridge, and finally, another bus to the center of town. This is a photograph of a rarity, a Thai woman tuk-tuk driver. We have also seen a Thai woman bus driver and taxi driver this year, but they are still rare. Things are changing in Thailand.

The first time we came here was about twenty-five years ago. We come to Vientiane for three reasons. The first is to see the changes in the city each year, the second is to have a chicken Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and a beer, and the third is that our thirty day Thailand visa was about to expire.

This year there are more cars, and worse traffic, which can be said about all of Asia. More buildings have been torn down to make room for more hotels to make room for more tourists. Here is a photo from our hotel room balcony with the Mekong River in the far left corner.

The biggest change we have seen since we were here two years ago is the number of Korean tourists. Kia has opened a factory here and other Korean manufactures have also relocated here so there is a large Korean population and with them came the Korean tourists. We have not seen so many Kia Soul automobiles anywhere, including home, as we have here, so that must be what the local factory produces. Funny, at home the Kia Soul seems like a small car, while here it seems like a large car.

The Philly cheese steak is from Ray’s Grille, which is a restaurant named for the American owner’s son. The sandwich is served on a gluten free rice bun, which is gluten free. Years ago, the country was too poor to import wheat so they learned to make baguettes with rice flour. The bread here is the best gluten free bread in the world. Jim ate it for years without knowing it was gluten free. Also, Beer Lao, the leading beer her is made from rice and is gluten free. Laura has been drinking it for years without any adverse reaction. In fact, the owner told us Laura started a gluten free trend at his restaurant and that because of her he has nine other people who come in for the gluten free food.

Ray’s Grille had to move because they tore down the building he was in to put up another hotel, but we found its location on Facebook. It did not move too far from its original location, but it did upgrade. It is now air-conditioned, serves a larger variety of food, and has eleven employees, at least two of which are from the Philippines. The online guidebooks love Ray’s Grille. It has high Trip Advisor ratings and the other reviews were also very high. So, from our first full day here we have been eating at least one meal a day there.

While at Ray’s Grille we met Paul, who has a blog on Facebook, “Cycling Laos and the Ho Chi Minh Trail”. He has even cycled through Kansas! He said that he especially enjoyed our National Grassland in Kansas. This is a photo of Dan, the owner of Ray's Grille and Paul, the bicycle wallah.

We have also eaten at a Vietnamese restaurant that serves “Pig Noodle”, which isn’t as appetizing as “Pork Noodle”, although they have the same meaning.

One morning we set out for Wat Oub Mong, whose restoration was photographed by a man we met in Ubon last year, Alan Potkin. He was there on behalf of the Illinois Cultural Commission. This year we made it to that temple, where we found an unfriendly group of people. However, before we got to that temple we stopped at Wat Khoun Ta where the monks were a lot friendlier.

At this temple there were statues of both the Goddess of the Land and of the Sea.

We were discussing travel with an Italian couple from Sicily who said that most Sicilians did not travel, and referred to them as “Cultural Potatoes” which we thought was a wonderful idiom.

We finally broke down and had our clothes professionally washed rather than doing them ourselves. The laundry cost was 10,000 kip per kilo which translates to about 55 cents per pound, washed, dried and folded. Here's our laundry hanging at the laundry for all the world to see.

That Dam is one of the symbols of Vientiane. It is located near the site of the U.S. Embassy. But, won'[t bee for long, as the U.S. is building a huge new embassy on the road to the Friendship Bridge to Thailand.

Another symbol of Vientiane is Patuxai Monument which was built with U.S. money sent to build a runway for the C.I.A. to use during the Vietnam War.

The last symbol of Vientiane that we photographed was Namphu Fountain.

The last night in Vientiane we went to the Lao Food Festival, which was a combination food and cloth festival. It was here that Jim had the best Danish pastry that he ever had in Lao.

Maybe the changes are for the better.

And, on the last night we were rewarded with this Mekong River sunset with the hazy sky from the burning of the fields.