We are well overdue an update! With travel to Laos, intense work schedules, the major exciting launch of “How Does on Dress to buy Dragonfruit?” and that double bout of bronchitis has resulted in a gentle lull here. A few shorter posts are in the pipeline, and here is the first. A few glimpses of my recent visit to Vientiane.
With storm warnings and alerts of likely flight delays, I decided to leave Yangon on an earlier flight than originally planned. Having been held above angry, sparky clouds on my previous flight into Bangkok, I opted to take a flight with a nice long connecting time and marginally less likely to be stormy. Afternoons tend to see the skies darken dramatically, and I would rather be on the ground for that, thank you!
As luck would have it, the morning flight was blessed with sunny skies and very little turbulence and no delays. We rose up into the clouds over clear view of Yangon including Inya Lake, the winding river and in the distance the sun catching Shwe Dagon.
Leaving Yangon
The sun shining on Shwe Dagon
My waiting time in Suvanibhumi airport was thus maximised. I have no problem killing time there, especially with the peaceful massage room and had a relaxing foot massage. In the departure lounge there were warm reunions with colleagues from the broader Asia region who were also travelling to Vientiane for the meeting before a late evening arrival in Vientiane. A long day for what was actually a very short journey.
The meeting took place only a few days after the military took control in Thailand, and as we were just across the Mekong there were clear signs of the situation.
I will not repeat my bronchial woes, but suffice to say that this meant that my planned Lao explorations were seriously limited and so too are my photos, so here are a few:
Rehydrating and resting with a coconut water rather in sync with the background architecture.
Evening lights
Special beauty treatments – face decorating anyone?
Face decorating 🙂
Confusion at the ATM – options to withdraw 100,000 or 500,000 Lao Kip – or a cool million?! Realising that 1,000,000 Kip is just over 120 US Dollars, the temptation to become a millionaire was too great!
ATM confusion
There were also a few opportunities to capture a few Laos shadow selfies to immortalise my presence there.
Night market
And a London taxi beside a Laos tuk-tuk delivering passengers to the airport!
My visit to Vientiane was sadly not enough to really explore, but it just means I need to go back and spend some leisurely and well time there.
Feisty Blue Gecko - a tail of the unexpected 