Day 25 - Full day in Vientiane

I wake up feeling alive again and we head out in search of food.... We still don't really know where we are so grab a map from hotel reception and think about finding somewhere in sunlight for breakfast.... We are feeling slightly warmer having traveled further south to Vientiane but it's not hot...
Whilst at reception we get informed that hotel has a " staff Christmas party " tonight in the hotel and all guests are welcome.... There will be free food and drinks with performances from most of the staff.
We have noticed the practising yesterday and they all seam pretty excited about it...
We head out and walk for what feels like an eternity looking for somewhere that will sell us food.... Shirees hungry and all that know her will know what that means and I'm fed up of walking into cafés that have there doors wide open, menu's on tables to be told there closed by the staff within..... Eventually we find a newly opened cafe that's open, with a menu, and staff that will actually let you order from it....
We have a very strange arrangement for breakfast and a conversation with the highly animated Laos lady owner of the cafe... She tells us all about her views and experiences of living in communist Laos, including a time when she was deemed to be to far away from her home by a 17 yr old gun wielding policeman who through bike over the edge of one if this mountain roads and was going to shot her... With mainly luck and a family connection saving her...
Her option is that as Laos has relaxed its communist grip ( as a result of the USSR breakup ) its become a much better place to live..... "It's still communist... But ok" she says.... "Better that Vietnam" all in a lowered voice so know one else can hear her..... Even though we are the only people in the cafe....
We wonder aimlessly around Vientiane for most of the day, with only one place of interest to us..... A ach de triumph style building in the middle of a roundabout.
Vientiane is the capital of Laos and is located on a large river bank.... The river marks the boundary of the Laos and Thailand border so again we are in a position where you stand in one country, whilst able to so another over a dividing river....
The Laos have built a huge sandstone presidential palace with the front facing the river and Thailand... Its grounds are huge and we walk the perimeter, on the rear of the building is a smooth three road made up of around 8 lanes with a narrow flower bed and ornate street lights marking the central reservation... The road is silky smooth but has very light traffic... Around a mile up the road is this Laos " arch de triumph " set in the middle of a large roundabout... We walk in its direction to take some photos but on are arrival we find that its possible to enter, and climb to the top which we do.... The views great but more surprisingly there's an area at the top that's like a large room which is around 100ft by 100ft which has been turned into an area for local people to sell local tat.... It's not what we expected.... There's also a information plaque on the wall in English... On this plaque the Laos people describe the arch as looking like a " concrete monstrosity " close up. Apparently it was never finished so is seen as an eye soar by the locals.
It lacks a little finesse but it's still impressive.....
Whilst sat having lunch we bump into the two girls we meet on the slow boa from Sweden... There really nice and we've bumped into them almost daily since meeting them.... They are also going to Vietnam so we half expect to see them there too....
We make the decision to go to the hotels show tonight.... It will be nice to see some local dancing....
We walk back to our hotel along the river front.... This area has been turned into a market place in the evening and every stall has a red canvas roof with lighting underneath. From a distance it looks very impressive.... A sea of red pitched roofs and hundreds of locals under them buying and selling either clothes, mobile phone accessories or local produce... We've noticed the whole town seems very quiet since we arrived but we've just found where everyone's been going.....
We buy nothing and end up walking to far along the riverbank which results in us being a little lost when we walk further inland away from the river... But after much map reading we end up back at our hotel where we get changed and head down for the nights entertainment.
They have provided us with some mixed scewr kebabs that are BBQ cooked.... Shiree grabs them whilst I find a seat.... I notice that many people have left a green chilli on the plate, but have eaten everything else so when Shiree reappears with this kebabs I sit back and watch as she sinks her teeth into one of these green things.....
Her face soon lights up like a Christmas tree and she's on the hunt for water..... Ha.... I think there HOT !
The show is good... Its a little amateur but it's going to be... There hotel staff doing a song and dance performance... They have gone to a huge amount of effort involving a large number of people... Not just hotel employees but the faintly as well.... The best acts for us are easily the women performing traditional Laos dancing... As the singing is done in Laos it's the only part of the show we really understand... The dancing is very feminine and largely an upper body affaire which is very easy on the eye.... It consists mainly of arms that criss cross in front of the dancer combined with a circulating hand movement and long slender fingers stretched out. These girls have an ability to rotate there wrists almost at right angels to the four arm.
There is a parts of this evening performance titled prize draw..... In hearing this Shiree stops fanning her open mouth and pays upmost attention as random room numbers are called out...... But no prize for us tonight... We witness some more songs and are then ushered to the dance floor.. We feel obliged to go as there have provided so much this evening as gingerly walk to the dance floor and aware an inevitable humiliation.... And it's not long before it comes..... We are all supposed to do the same dance as the hotel staff but the dance they have decided to perform involves footwork.. And this footwork dictates that we turn... Thus, those who placed themselves hidden at the back ( like us ) in turn find themselves at the front..... It's not a pretty sight and we find out seats pretty quick once the song ends... Happy to blend back in to the non dancers again....
Another prize draw is drawn... The last event of the night, and due to a shrinking audience this becomes our luck prize draw..... After many numbers being called with no response we hear the numbers 210.... It's ours... And it's for the largest present left on the table... A mystery present as its wrapped... Shiree's longstanding enthusiasm for wanting to win suddenly vanishes into thin air when she realises that she's git to go back up in stage to except this mystery gift, but in the end her desire to win the prize wins over stage freight and up she goes.....
We've won some green towels.....!!!
There nice, and after opening them up we call it a night and head off to our room, towels in hand.....

I guess I know who'll be carrying them.....