Chilly Christmas in VTE

It's been a bit on the chilly side in Vientiane for the last three weeks. Even though it's technically the cool season, temperatures are 5 to 10 degrees below normal. We went out for a walk this morning and we chatted to a local lady (who speaks very good English) while she waited for the monks to pass for the morning making merit ritual. She was wrapped in a big coat and had a thick shawl draped around her head. She said to Andrew, wearing his merino jersey and shorts - you are so lucky you don't feel the cold - it's 12 degrees you know!

We know! We have not had the air conditioning on for 3 weeks, we wear trousers and socks in the evenings in the apartment and the shower never seems to actually feel hot. It's so bad there are stories in the local and Thai papers that people are dying of cold related illnesses.
 
Temperatures are ranging from 9 to 24 degrees this week, whereas the normal range for this time of year are 18 to 28 (according to the daily almanac averages since 1995)

This is what your typical lady returning from market looks like at this time of year... scarf, coat, gloves, socks

And how you rug Grandad up so he can watch the early morning traffic outside your noodle shop.  A good thick pair of towels, an acrylic woolly hat and socks in your crocs.

As well as the people being rugged up against the cold, the local pet dogs have been to the fore in doggy fashion. (My spell-check changed doggy to dodgy and that probably isn't too far wrong). We've never seen so many dogs here wearing clothing, as we have this year.

On his own he is quite cute

But a pair are cuter still

The more laid-back dog this year is sporting a casual rugby shirt

While for the lady dog, this year's colour is pink and the hair is worn in pink rubber band pigtails.

And the most vicious of the dogs I photographed was this little thing.  He/She bared it's teeth at me and yapped and growled.  But if I was having my photo taken whilst wearing a hoodie and crocheted skirt I might be a bit embarrassed too!

Christmas is not a holiday here, but the Lao love anything shiny and any excuse for a party. So there has been plenty of tinsel up in various places and sightings of Father Christmas outfits. The school next door to our apartment is 'international' (but has mainly Lao students). We have heard them singing Christmas carols for a couple of weeks. However, we would have preferred not to have heard the 3 hours of Christmas music that started blaring out at 7:30am on Saturday morning - they are now on holiday till early January. But on a sound scale, that was nothing when compared to the music on Christmas Day evening. It sounded like a major concert was happening in the street behind our apartment. So we walked around to see what was happening. It turned out to be three separate houses in the street with competing speakers, all playing at full volume. There isn't really any noise control authority to worry about here.

We followed french tradition and had a réveillon meal on Christmas eve - mainly because our favourite restaurants, all french, were closed on the 25th.  So for Christmas day we cooked at the apartment, drank a bottle of Champagne with lunch and polished off a special Portuguese red for dinner.  Not too shabby.

Even though Andrew's favourite cocktail bar is closed until mid-late January we've managed a few wines and cocktails to keep ourselves happy.

(note the Merino jersey on 2 separate occasions here;  not the normal t-shirts that Andrew is usually photographed in.  We really do feel cold at the moment)

P.S. As I write this we just received our electricity bill for the month of December.  $15.  Normally it's a hefty $30 or $40, but with no aircon needed...

Getting from Vientiane to Udon Thani

This is not really a post, rather a storing of information for us to refer back to.  And it maybe useful to someone else searching for shuttle information – at times i’ve searched and searched for this info.

It’s easy to get from Udon to Nong Khai on the limousine van service (airport counter to Friendship bridge 200 baht), but we had never managed to work out how to do it in reverse.  So this trip with time on our side we worked it out

Vientiane Bus station to Friendship bridge: 
Bus 14 (our old favourite bus) 6,000 kip, pay the driver when getting off the bus (departs every 10 –15 minutes)

Through Immigration Lao & Thai (4,000 kip for the bus over the bridge).

We departed the bus station at 7:05am and were through Lao and Thai immigration by 8:05am

Nong Khai, Friendship bridge to Udon Thani Airport
At the Nong Khai end the limousine vans drop passengers off just before the Thai immigration departure booths – you can pick up a ride there to the office.  Or can go to the offices of the van operator along the Pranangcholpratan road.  We were quoted 50 baht by a tuktuk driver to do this – we didn't bargain because we didn't plan to actually go by tuktuk – so 50 is the ballpark starting figure.

(update) I walked from the border last time because I had plenty of time.  Turn left at the corner then walk 20 minutes straight down the large road, passing through 2 sets of lights.  Office just past 2nd set, on right hand side of road

We caught a limousine van – signage only on the top front windscreen and on the rear window, not on the van itself and it is a 3 or 4 minute drive from the bridge to the office.

Here were purchased a ticket 150 baht.

Departures are 6:30am, 9:15am, 10:30 am 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:30

It is about an hour direct through to Udon airport.

The details of the operator Udon Kaewtour Ltd udonkaewtour@csloinfo.com or udonkaewtour@hotmail.com 

business card i picked up at the tour office


At the other end we flew into Bangkok, Don Muang airport for the 1st time.  To get to the city we used the airport bus/ BTS combination in both directions.

From Don Muang to city
The airport bus is "A1" and is located outside the arrivals hall doors (possibly exit 6 if I remember correctly) It was a bit of an old dunger of bus and there is no space for luggage. The ticket collector comes around and collect the 30 baht fare per person.

The journey to the Mo Chit BTS/ Chatuchak Park MRT Station takes about 30 minutes depending on traffic.

There are no announcements, but the fact everyone departs the bus en-mass is a good clue you are there.

Returning to Don Muang
After exiting the BTS (on the Chatachuk Park side of the road) we stood at the bus stop and waited watching all the local buses.  Eventually A1 arrived and picked us and some other tourists up.  Then it went 50m further down the road to a sign that actually said A1 airport bus and picked up the remainder of the passengers.

 (I think I read the bus goes every 20 or 30 minutes, something like that anyway.)

Bangkok– not just eating

Between meals we endeavoured to explore places in Bangkok that we had either not been to before or had spent very little time in.

1st off was Chinatown.  We had been before but this time we set aside a day to just wander.  With a general plan and advice from the guidebooks that ‘don’t worry, you are guaranteed to get lost, but you’ll find your way again’ we headed into the masses of people and shops.

Shuffling our way down the pedestrian Sampeng shopping lane we got a good look at so many things we didn’t need to buy.  Stalls of Hello Kitty paraphernalia, plastic by the ton, materials, buttons, wigs... all of it interesting. We were always amazed that the motorcycles and delivery men pushing trolleys, kept their patience with the mass of humanity that they needed to negotiate around.  This was a weekday and it was packed.  The guidebooks say don't go on the weekend when it is REALLY busy!





Tucked away there were local Chinese temples and lots of stalls with paper replicas of worldly goods to be burnt as offerings to the ancestors – paper Chanel Shoes, paper suits, iPhones and watches.



At the end of a long days walking and dealing with crowds we wandered past Wat Traimit. 

In 1955 during a renovation of a tin shack housing a Buddha statue a piece of plaster was knocked off the statue.  It was discovered that underneath was 5.5 tonnes of gold worth a mere 250 million dollars (give or take).  In 2010 a new temple building was constructed to showcase the treasure which they think had probably laid hidden for 200 years



Quietly tucked away off Soi Asoke and in the shadow of Terminal 21 mall is the Khamtieng House museum.  Although when we arrived there was a wedding ceremony happening in the front yard.  We were assaulted with noise pollution by way of not one, but two MCs bantering over a very loud speaker system while the guests blessed the happy couple.  Luckily this stopped half way through our visit and we could appreciate the calm and cool house museum, as it was intended.



It is a traditional home from Chiang Mai relocated to the capital in which there are displays of normal 19th century life.  It exceeded expectations and we enjoyed it immensely.





As most people probably know by now…we like markets.  So we went to the biggest wet market in the city Khlong Toei, and wandered around and just enjoyed sights of daily life. 



Also in throwing distance from Terminal 21 is Benjakiti Park.  20.8 hectares of land which was converted from warehouses to a park, when the Tobacco Monopoly moved it’s operations to the city outskirts.  It is a quiet place and you can't hear the roar of the traffic.  There is a large central lake, bike paths and exercise stations, shady planted areas and lots of flowers.



And 2 spots i forgot from the eating in Bangkok post

Cheap Charlies on Suk 11, which has apparently been there forever so we finally sat down for a drink there.     Meh, just a beer.  They do have a single unisex toilet with a sign posted saying no pooping allowed in the toilet




And excellent specialist coffee in the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre (BACC) at Gallery Drip coffee on the ground floor.  With filter drip coffee, single origin coffee and art – it is a perfect spot to get your caffeine fix. Andrew was particularly taken with his sugar coming on the side as a shot glass of sugar syrup.


We started each day with a coffee in the Nana BTS station at D.Cup – consistently excellent coffee and a lovely personable barista, who had been Australian trained.  By the end of our trip he knew our orders.

Bangkok…before the protests

In December we were supposed to visit Myanmar for work, but a little thing called the SEA Games put paid to that.  The South East Asia games are the Commonwealth games equivalent, and are being held in Nay Pyi Taw this year and accommodation was all booked out.  So at a loose end we headed to Bangkok for a week – its quite nice to have such problems.

We had an excellent time eating, exploring and enjoying relatively low winter temperatures which probably stayed in the 24-32 degree range, day & night.  On the bad side we were there as protest tension started to escalate and we were pleased to leave the day before things really got ugly.  While we were there the crowds were genial, but there was the potential for all sorts of unpredictability...as erupted the day after we left.

It turned out to be a food focused visit.  We eat well in Vientiane, but it was a treat to have more variety to choose from.  Thai/Lao food is always on our doorstep so we avoided ‘expensive’ local restaurant food – and either ate street food or happily paid expensive prices to get get our treat of ‘western’ food.

Highlights were a trip to Smith restaurant, a nose to tail meat restaurant which was appearing on a number of best restaurant lists.  Food prices were not excessive and the decor with it’s industrial feel was a interesting change.  There were meat-hooks (some just visible outside behind Andrew’s head below), and decorative knives and butchery tools.

We started with cocktails and moved on to boutique beers.  We did avoid the wine which was a bit overpriced.



Here (and somewhere else we were drinking) the beer was served in a jam jar – a bit of a current Bangkok fashion fad.  Fashion over function, as the grooves around the glass rim are not ideal.



The food was delicious and we both had the pork belly and the Eton mess to follow.  mmmm juicy & flavoursome strawberries, we haven't had those in months!


And our other western enjoyment was the Firehouse for a couple of excellent burgers, cooked medium rare, peanuts in the shell and happy hour beers. Oh, and waitresses all had really short skirts, if you are into that sort of thing :-)

But probably the highlight of that night for Andrew, was sitting at the pop-up street bars, converted VW combi vans.  Cheap Mojitos & endless street traffic, he would have been happy to spend more time there!







And at the other end of the scale we ate plenty of street food.  It was all delicious, fresh and cheap, cheap, cheap.  35 cents for a tasty sausage, $1.20 for a plate of noodles….

While searching for a good street with a variety of food, I found reference to the local food tents – places where the locals went for lunch. So after a visit to the dentist for Andrew – supposed to be a cosmetic consultation, but ended up with an appointment for a root canal – we headed to one such ‘tent’.  With a large selection of vendors around the outside and plenty of customers, food was flying off the hotplate/wok/tureen and onto the plate.


 

And this was the best Pad Thai of the trip- $2, with giant prawns – YUM



We wandered down a side alley in Chinatown and felt the heat of the fires under this noodle stand – from about 2 meters away.  The fires were pumping and the shop was doing a roaring business so we decided to join them.





So all in all, we can say we ate well, didn’t dehydrate and with all the walking that we did we must have been in negative calorie territory!