Vientien, Laos

W

Spirit houses are everywhere here. But cement, rather than the wooden ones in Thailand

Our first day in Laos , we experienced a bit of culture shock after our time in Malaysia. For one thing, the money took some getting used to, since when Jim went to the ATM to get cash and withdrew a little over $125 US, he got about a million kip! We decided that was why there were ATMs on every other  corner. And then there was the fact that in Malaysia, most everyone spoke some English, and many spoke excellent English. It made transactions very easy. When we got to Laos, the opposite was true, even hotels, etc. Being a former French a Colony, of course the French influence is still heavily felt here. Our first meal was at a nearby restaurant that could have happily existed in any French town. 

Things got even more lively at night when the lights came on. And I kind of had an attitude adjustment.

After a nice dinner at this lovely restaurant , Vientiane started growing on us, especially after we paid a visit to the vast night market. This was a sprawling affair of seemingly endless red nylon tents, mostly selling to the locals.

It always amazes us how people figure out a way to sell things, even if we don't speak the same language. Calculators are very handy for this. They show you a number, and when bargaining is possible( not much of that in Malaysia) you punch in your offer and they counter. Very efficient. So there was the money problem solved. We wanted a SIM card for Jim's phone, and while they mostly sell them for the more popular Samsungs, our fellow cleverly used a cutter to make it fit, then carefully trimmed it down with scissors, et viola! 

When we toured town on our first day, we started seeing these temple offerings everywhere, too.

But I liked this simple offering just as well.

These are wax flowers on styrofoam. I wonder, are they burned? This was a temple display.

There are many Wats , or temples in Ventianne, which we discovered when riding bikes around town, but we only saw one huge 

Buddha. Red and gold is the classic combination of colors, and it is quite striking, I think. 

It's amazing what you can push yourself to do while on vacation, even though you are sick.(jim was coming down with my awful cold).