Vientiane

The bottle of Beerlao barely refracted the misty Mekong sunset. My new friend Amy and I shared a couple of tall ones as we sat on the dry riverbed of the Mekong in Vientiane, Laos as we rehashed the previous few days adventures:
My night train to Nong Khai on the border of Thailand and Laos was delayed because a freight train had crashed at the next station. "Delay three or five hour only" turned into nine hours. Night became day, the train whistle blew, and we shuffled along through the rice paddies and craggy hills of rural Thailand. Eleven out of twelve hours into the journey, I discovered the dining car where apparently all the Westerners on the train had converged hours before for a bit of beer drinking and story swapping. And thats where I met Amy who traveled with me for a couple of days before leaving for the north on a night bus this evening (hopefully no delays on that one).
Nong Khai, Thailand, on the bank of the Mekong River has Buddhist Wats and tasty food stalls aplenty, just like most Thai towns. But what most other towns lack is a sculpture garden with towering Buddhas and snakes and Hindu gods molded out of cement by a very driven if not a little obsessive shaman decades ago. Wandering through the dozens of sculptures hundreds of feet tall made me feel a bit lazy- sure he had help, but man, that guy had vision.
Across the Friendship Bridge into Laos, then a twenty minute minibus ride with a bunch of women joking and laughing with each other the entire way to Vientiane... I loved it immediately. Vientiane is the capital of Laos, but with only 300,000 people, its pretty chill. There is a mix of Asian and French architecture and the brilliantly gold temples are purely Buddhist.
Amy and I spent two days wandering around, sampling fruit shakes and French pastries, Lao noodles and beer, taking tons of pictures of wats and stupas and small children on motorbikes.
Last night was the final night of the Mekong Festival and we were treated to two amazing French bands, accordions, basses and all, charismatically playing in a very dramatic French way as the dragonflies circled in the stage lights and little kids danced at the feet of the band.
So far, I love it here. Even the tuk tuk drivers who are trying to rip you off are nice....
Off to Vang Viene tomorrow...