We took the day off riding today...after riding in the rain all day yesterday, we just needed to dry out and re-evaulate what we wanted to do. We had talked the night before with some cyclists who had just ridden from southern Laos to Vientiane and they told us there were very few guesthouses to be found in the south and they had resorted to camping. We don't have any camping gear with us...and no way am I about to try and find someone to take us in on a wish and a prayer. Lao people are very nervous about taking in Westerners for the night as it's taboo and forbidden and they're afraid they'll get caught by the government, so few do it. Even Lonely Planet says it's not done very often. So we need to rethink whether we want to continue riding south toward Cambodia or bag it and go back into Thailand where you can find a place to stay just about everywhere. Besides, this rain is getting on our nerves...4 days straight now and it's raining today as well. I watched CNN and it's indicating that the weather all over Asia is pretty bad due to the weather pattern in China...sure glad I'm not in China now!
We ended up taking the bikes and riding around the city and went to Paouxia which was built by the French and is supposedly similiar to the Arc de Triumphe in Paris. It was pretty cool. You could take steps inside to the top. The Arc has Buddhist carvings integrated into the structure and at 4 corners at the top were gold faces of Buddha...very impressive.
We found a great little outside restaurant and had grilled chicken. I believe without a doubt it was the best chicken I've ever eaten. The Lao take a whole chicken, the cut it down the middle, and then grill it open between two sticks slowly over a bed of coals. They rub the chicken with herbs and spices and well, it is just a great taste. We have eaten it wherever we've seen them grilling as it is always a great food experience. They do something similar with fish as well, taking a whole fish, cutting it open and stuffing it with lemongrass, then rubbing the outer fish with a salt/brine with herbs/spices. Also excellent.
I have to put in a plug for one of our favorite beverages of choice we've found for re-hydration...BeerLao!! Yeh baby!!! It comes in a big bottle and well, excellent beer. Actually, Carlsberg owns 50% of the company. Here's a couple of pics of my favorite drink in Laos....ha! You can actually buy a huge mug of beer that they use for groups at tables...try this next time you want to drink beer!!
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