[That might be my favorite post title yet.]
Now that I've exorcised the crappiness of my trip to Vientiane out of my system (see the post below), I can gush about this excellent city! I rolled into the airport at a little after 9:30am. It took about an hour or so to get my visa (v. pretty, btw), bop through immigration, and hop a cab to the JoMa Cafe where Chris and John were waiting. After a coffee, we strolled along the Mekong River down to our gorgeous hotel. It boggles the mind that I'm spending approximately $18 dollars a night to stay here.
We didn't do any sightseeing yesterday because we've got a lot of time on our hands due to the falling through of our plans to go to Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars. (I'm disappointed, but also relieved that I won't be flying one of these.) After lunch on the river, I took a shower and a nap while Chris and John went to the market and then met up with them for more coffee. We sipped Beerlao (and $4 [NOPE, THREE DOLLARS, I double checked] Green Label on the rocks!!!) while watching the sun set over the Mekong. Later in the evening, Chris took us a total ferengi bar (the Thai word for westerner is falang - pronounced far-ahng, but I decided it would be funnier to call them ferengi...which reveals my past life as Star Trek dork...oh well). The best thing about this place: BEST. COVER BAND. EVER. TenTen is a 3-person (two guitars, one keyboard) local band who covers, among others, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, REM, Bananarama, and Bob Marley. And they did it better than any American band I've ever seen. The Lao woman who sang half the songs might have one of the best singing voices I've ever heard.
Well, after that, Chris and I were really hammered so we got the dude from the band to tell us where to go next. He suggested Dom-something Palace. It's in the only high-rise hotel in the city (and the only high-rise BUILDING in the city). Among the hits played were Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca, the Thai version of O-Zone's Dragostea Din Tay, and Don't Cha by the Pussycat Dolls. It was fun, we were hammered, and we got to ride in a tuk-tuk. Good times.
Time to go soak up some Lao sun. (Did you hear that Victor? SUN.) It's hot as heck but this is, without a doubt, the chillest place on earth.
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Am I allowed to note that Mr. Alessandro indicated a desire to make an American Woman out of 1/3 of TenTen? It would have been quite the keepsake to have...
And, I'm disappointed that Alessandro has not mentioned anything about his concept for Laos Idol -- I am sure it would be an even BIGGER hit than the Simon Cowell version.
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