Vientienne and Nong Khai

For those of you reading in sequential order....we inadvertently missed one of our favorite stops. Our last blog brings us through Van Vieng. From there we headed south to Vientienne. We were told it was a big city with very little to offer, so we spent one night and got our Cambodian Visas taken care of. There was some great left-over French architechure and food, mostly crusty baguettes but with little maintenance on the city, the buildings were falling into disrepair. Our block didn't have water for most of the day. Anyway, we got out as quickly as possible and headed over the border into Thailand to Nong Khai. Since most travelers, take the bus to the train station, this city seems to get far-less touristy traffic and we felt very comfortable there. Mut Mee guest houses were awesome with thatched attached bathroom to our bungalow and a great staff and lots of people sharing stories. They were also keen to give us a map of the area and all the places to visit by motorbike. We spent a few nights there because we liked it and postponed the trip back to Bangkok a bit. Our favorite and most weird siteseeing was at Kew Gardens, where we saw huge sculptures of Hindu and Buddhist gods. The park was Alice in Wonderland like and fittting as the sculturer was also a guru who saw a vision after falling in a hole as a child. We also got to see him. They had him embalmed in a glass bubble on the top floor of a Wat, with weird memorabilia like a picture of the blood he caughed up just before he died and his final resting bed.


Pictures from the Kew Garden Sculpture Park

More pics from Kew Gardens...

We sitesaw, drove the motorbike around town, met locals, Ethan had a non-verbal hourlong experience fixing the tire of the motorbike while I hung out at a book store with a British man and his VERY young Cambodian girlfriend/wife, who told me Vientienne was better than Nong Khai. We walked through a tunnel of a mall and purchased nothing. We wound up next to another American that studied at South Pacific University in Samoa and talked Samoan to him! Small world. We reminisced about Samoa and said our goodbyes.

And then after two nights, we went to the train to head back to Bangkok. At the train station we ran back into the crew we had traveled on the Mekong with. So the train was a great fun party. Well, until this one French man told me that Peace Corps was a cover-up for the CIA. I tried to argue with him but realized I was going to get nowhere and just let it go. Ethan came back and I am really glad he didn't make the same comment to him, the French man may taken home a black eye for a souvenir.

Ethan and Colin being silly with Claires iddie biddie purse on the train.

Ok, now on to South Thailand....



Here are some of his sculptures.