Badminton Around That Dam Stupa

Thai Flowers and Baby Clothes

Concluding our stay in Chiang Mai, we crossed a stall selling baby clothes during our evening stroll. “Who would need baby clothes? Oh wait, we would now.” So just like that, we bought the first set of clothes for the new baby. A yellow pair of shorts and shirt with the words Thailand and a picture of a tuk-tuk. The baby won’t fit in the outfit until Cletus or Dolly is at least a year old. Maybe my small New Mexican friends could wear them for a year.

We also went to the Royal Flora Expo in Chiang Mai. This expo artistically celebrated the different types of flora along with different green technologies in Thailand. This originated from the King’s initiative to reduce reliance on foreign countries for energy and create a healthy environment. Progressive King that man.

V.I.P. Bus Service

Leaving Thailand for more than a four-hour visa was astonishing. But in order to do that, an overnight bus carried us to the city of Udon Thani, where another local bus continued to the Laos border, where another bus subsequently transferred us to the capital of Vientiane.

The Udon Thani overnight bus proved to be the most eventful. After a compulsory Jackie Chan movie, the lights inside dimmed, but the moon outside shone brightly. In our best attempt to sleep, we assumed the fetal position in our seats. Not long after at one in the morning, the bus pulled up to a gas station adjoined to a restaurant. This was the V.I.P. meal area included with our V.I.P. bus ticket. The meal paralleled our sleeping, it was atrocious. More time was spent guessing what we were eating rather than eating it.

To conclude the overnight ride and middle of the night meal, a farang and Thai guy serenaded us. The farang was practicing his Thai and Thai guy was happy to converse. I’m completely in favor of learning, practicing, and sharing with local people in your travels as that is one of the big reasons to travel, BUT NOT at two in the morning while the rest of the bus is trying to sleep, especially the two directly in front, Nadine and myself.

Our plans previously included exploring northern Laos and tracking down south to the Cambodian border, but the plans changed when a little peanut baby decided to join us on the trip. Since we already possessed two expensive Laos visas, we decided to use them and visit the only place that was considered malaria free in all of Laos, the capital, Vientiane.

Laid Back Vientiane

After the trio of buses from Udon Thani, the unassuming capital of Laos greeted us. Automatically you think of a capital of any country, U.S., Peru, Texas, or even Morocco, it’s going to be large, yet that is not the case for Vientiane. Vientiane is one of the three largest cities in Laos, a country of six million inhabitants, but the capital only has 200,000 laid back folks. Driving from our hostel to the Vietnam consulate for a future visa, you feel like you have been placed in the middle of a large farming village carefully trying to avoid hitting the town’s lazy, grazing dog.

Laos is a communist country but the winds of change seem to be on the horizon. There are not any Western fast food restaurants dotting the streets, just local vendors. Laos is slowly making its way on the backpackers radar. Even then, the number of tourists are few.

Which One? That Dam Stupa!

With only five days to explore this “captial”, bikes were our mode of transportation around the city. No visit to Vientiane is complete without a visit to That Dam Stupa. Not quite sure why we needed to see That Dam Stupa other than the cool name and it was one of very few places designated as a tourist spot.

Similar to Paris, Vientiane has their own version of the Arc de Triomphe situated directly downtown. It’s called Patuxai. It’s an impressive monument in a city that doesn’t have much that impresses. Comically enough, it was built with donations to build an airport from an American cement company, but instead of laying the airport tarmac, it provided downtown grandeur, fondly referred as the “vertical runway.”

When Bikes and Scooters Meet

After seeing a few sites, we headed towards the golden national symbol of Laos, Pha That Luang on bike. We neared a traffic stop with a couple of cars and scooters maneuvering for a turning position. In the process, Along the way, and very slowly, Nadine peeked her head out from behind a car just as a scooter turned. I turned around just in time to Nadine and the scooter collide. I immediately ran to check on Nadine and her belly. Fortunately, both had moved at the speed of grandmothers in a wheelchair race. Neither Nadine, nor the other guy were injured. The same can’t be said for Nadine’s bike. In fear of having to buy a new bike, rode a tuk-tuk with the injured bike to a bike shop, and repaired it for $10.

A Tuk-Tuk or Toke-Toke?

Apparently Laos tuk-tuk drivers don’t drive people around, they help them fly. For the first time on our trip, a tuk-tuk driver approached me, but not for rides around the city. When I didn’t accept the ride, he countered with a “you smoke? Weed, marijuana, opium?” I responded with a firm “winners don’t use drugs, and I am a winner. So no!”

Honestly in all of my travels around the world, it’s not uncommon to be walking and have someone ask you if you want some weed, but to be propositioned for opium, that’s a first. This is the heart of the former opium trade.

It reached the point where the tuk-tuk drivers would look at me, raise their eyebrows several times at me as if saying, “you want some? I got some ‘you know what’ to smoke.” I guess since the distances in Vientiane aren’t that large and you can really walk anywhere, tuk-tuk drivers have to find a way to diversify their income with tourists.

Good Badminton

Nadine’s little bike accident and distorted front tire and a scooter, we never made it to Pha That Luang that second day. The following day without a traffic incident, we arrived to locked gates. Apparently at lunch hour, the employees would like to rest. So we had to wait. This left ample time to take silly pictures outside Pha That Luang and play with local kids.

As a general rule, we never give money to kids, correct or not, it promotes parents to push their kids to ask for and earn money when they should be in school. But we do interact and have fun with kids. So Bun, Lou, and I played our own rendition of shoe badminton. One shoe or sandal served as a racquet, and just knock the shit out of that little birdie. One Texan reportedly beat two Lao girls in a close, tough match of shoe badminton. Yet when they began protesting my scoring system, I quickly yelled “The Dalai Lama is over behind Pha That Luang. Bye!”, and ran away.

Next Stop

Nadine’s pregnancy caused her body experience transformations that we like to call the “Thai winter of change.” She feels nauseous every other morning needing a little more rest than usual. Fortunately we have the luxury to sleep in as needed. Travel has been modified a bit. Life is taken slower and Nadine’s state directs our day. Every time I tell her to just suck it up, she just punches me. That works well. One thing helps alleviate her aches and pains, it’s called a massage. Morning sickness left her feeling horrible one day, but miraculously after an afternoon massage, she felt like a new woman. A new woman with a little baby growing inside of her.

To end on that point, life is good for both of us. We are super excited to be parents, but has altered the ferociousness we travel. We return to Bangkok for a doctor’s visit in a couple of days. From Thailand, I will travel to Cambodia for five days in a whirlwind tour to see Angkor Wat and anything else I can catch in that time. Nadine will remain in Bangkok and rest. After Cambodia, we will meet in Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam where we will spend my mom’s birthday, Christmas, and probably New Years in Vietnam. This may include a month to look for a job for the next academic year and a break from the constant movement. The freedom long term travel allows us to make changes as needed easily.

Hope all is well and enjoying your Christmas season, but don’t hold your breath waiting for Christmas presents from us.

Peace and love

JW