Vientiane - Laos, the land of a millions elephants

Vientiane (Laos)

Flying out of Kuala Lumpur about 1.5-2hrs north-east we were heading to one of the poorest countries on earth, and apparently, one of the most welcoming. Needless to say, on arrival, JJ (the one travelling without a Lao entry visa), somehow managed to get one in an instant, and in turn got by customers well in advance of Jase, Audrey and myself. Sometimes the road less travelled is the one that's far more favourable. Interestingly the way it worked out meant that I was virtually the last person through customers, at which time I received some relatively interesting questions from the customs officer checking out my passport, it went something like this
(Officer) 'Are you on holiday?'

(Henry) 'Yes'

(Officer) 'Why did it take you so long to come of the plane'

(Henry) At this point I wanted to say, 'well mate, it's your retarded process that had me waiting' but I just smiled and added, 'No, that wasn't very long'.

Then the officer said something very strange that had me jumping a little,
 (Officer) 'You got drug on?'

(Henry) 'No'...with a little amusement and apprehension

(Officer) Once again puts the same question to me, 'You got drug on ?'

(Henry) 'No, I don't', more forcefully.

The officer then points to my entry papers and then I realise what the hell he was talking about, we were going to stay at the Dragon (Dra-gon) hotel in the centre of Vientiane and he was doing his best to ask me as to whether I was going there but the way he was actually pronouncing it made me more than just a little paranoid. I thought all my Moroccan brothers had jumped a plane to Laos and where in cahoots with these lovely Laotian people by trying to work me over for another scam!

After surviving customs and resolving our quest for kip ( the Lao currency), we jumped a tuk-tuk and headed into town. It's usually at this point that I try and absorb as much as I can so that I can relate what I'm seeing to something familiar. I had expected, before arriving, that Vientiane would be very similar to Phnom Penh, a little run down, a little dirty, a little rough around the edges with evidence of that French influence in its architecture. Well, it wasn't really like that, and it wasn't really anything Vietnamese either, it was somewhere in between those poles. Relatively clean, a little dusty on it's outskirts and much more akin to a large town than a capital city, Vientiane seemed to be relatively unique as far as first impressions went.

A couple of hours after arriving at the (Do you have drugs on arrivals hall) we departed and ventured the streets of Vientiane. A couple of hundred metres from the hotel we found a small, outdoor/indoor dining area that did some great pork 'something or other' and delivered that with a healthy dollop of Beer Lao (the only way to drink in Laos). Of course I also undertook a silly activity (please read:'dare') of downing a spoonful of chili that head my head spin for a good 30 mins but hey, this was Vientiane and I am known to be an idiot at times. Needless to say we pressed on a little while longer before JJ and I left Jase and Audrey to their own devices and decided to make out way down to the Mekong in order to check out one of the mightiest rivers in Asia and also scan the banks of the opposite side of the river which just so happened to be Thailand. The Mekong just happens to split this countries just on the southern side border of the capital.

Like anywhere in the world, tuk-tuk drivers just like taxi drivers are in for a scam. Now JJ and I had been walking in the completely wrong direction from the Mekong when we decided to hail a tuk-tuk to take us to where the riverside action was (incidentally, the lack or orientation in this instance was my fault). Spotting the fact that he had happily come across tourists that obviously no clue meant straight away that there was going to be a significant 'mark up' on the normal price for the distance. Of course we later found out that the mark-up was 10 times more than what it should have been. No big deal in the grand scheme of things but infuriating never the less. It's the principle of getting ripped off that does my head in, its like there's an obligation to do it and its not isolated to poorer countries. It's that break from morals or honesty that gets under my skin, bah, anyway, whatever...

We cruised down by the Mekong on what was a relatively warm day and found the riverside just stacked with bar after bamboo bar built out over the grassy Mekong banks. Each bar having a great cushioned seating area (or laying area, which ever you preferred), and in turn promoting  laid back, chilled out,  languid type of vibe. I was liking the looking of this place already and could  imagine in advance  the type of activity that this area would inherit come sunset. The shot below is taken from one of the bars that we stopped in and had a drink at.

A common sight on the river in Vientiane - bamboo bar on the Mekong, Laos

One of the guide books that JJ picked up from the airport said, 'if you don't trust to drink the water then there's always Beer Lao!'. My response to that, 'Damn right there is'. One of the highest quality products made anywhere in Laos,  is Beer Lao. it's freakin' fantastic and ridiculously cheap, I mean so cheap that you couldn't buy a can of No Frills lemonade in Australia for the same price. After a few drinks at one of the fantastic bamboo bars JJ and I walked up one of the streets perpendicular to the main road by the Mekong and chose to once again partake in a Beer Lao activity of purchasing, bending the arm, drinking and then swallowing. I love those sorts of culturally significant moments whilst on tour!

Beer Lao, a source of Lao pride - Vientiane - Laos

Half a day in and we were already, 'kind of', starting to get the hang of Vientiane. The city is small, diminutive in comparison to other well recognised cities, there appeared to be a much slower pace to general activity, by comparison to their SE Asian neighbours and getting around the town only required a half decent map and the willingness to walk just a little.And as for the beer? Well, it was damn good, and as the menu shows,(after I explain the Kip conversion), more than reasonably priced.

Typical drinks menu - Xayoh cafe - Vientiane - Laos

Lets start with number one on the list, Draft Beer-Glass 330mi, 6000 Kip = $0.81 AUD. So a glass of beer equals just over 80 cents!! If you want a litre of beer, well my friends, that's going to set you back a whole $1.90 AUD. Oh yeah, this was going to be a very, very tough place to survive. Not only did the beer taste fantastic, but hey, you can do the maths in regards to the cost to hangover ratio.

Managing to drink our way into another early evening, JJ and I made out way down to the Mekong and none to surprisingly found these really quaint bamboo huts on the river bank. Cushioned up and ready to go we chatted and watched the sun drop over Thailand, gently painting the sky  beautiful hues of orange, red and light purple as it fell. It felt as though the sun was rolling out the welcome mat over the Mekong and almost straight to our door on the other side. As far as sunsets go, well this was spectacular and one that will remain as one of my favourites for some time, of that I'm sure. As the sun sank even further Jase and Audrey joined us for an early evening dinner as we drank and chatted a few hours away. Not an entirely bad way to finish up day one in Laos I'd say.

 

Sunset over the Mekong - Vientiane - Laos

Kuala Lumpur - KL2Y

Our second day in KL started out with a quest for coffee as it appears that both JJ and I can't get the engine running until we have caffeine well and truly running through our veins. Thankfully there was a Starbucks about 200mtrs up the street from us, and whatever your take is on their enterprise, their enviromental/social/political conscience, blah, the fact of the matter is that at the bottom of their double shot cappucino's was an opportunity for me to feel energized - accepted well and truly, thankyou very much.

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Now, onto cultural faux pas' and the pleasure that you get from watching other people struggle. To set the scene, let me say this, KL is more often than not a humid place and the temperature, whilst not excruciatingly hot, is well above the comfortable mark on most days. Taking this into consideration, JJ, as could be best rationalised in her mind, decided to deduct long sleeved, conservative options of dress for, how shall we say, less culturally atune attire. I fortunately or unfortunately realised this before we left for the morning but thought that she might be able to escape from public judgment with casual glances and the odd disapproving look...but oh, how I was mistaken! Every Malaysian man in KL thought it was 'his day' when JJ was walking down the street and every female in KL was throwing her, and I, that disturbingly disapproving look of 'How dare you be out in public like that'. I know, our fault, we assume full responsibility. In an overwhelmingly Islamic country where females generally cover up, JJ was not really following their line of thought, and whilst KL has many Western influences, showing more skin than is accustomed does not really sit within their range of tolerance. Needless to say, I had endless amusement walking with her the whole day and staring down each and every person that was either checking her out or throwing us an evil stare...muchos funos in my books.

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Deciding that alcohol for right at this moment was not what we were going to do, we made our way via Skytrain to KLCC Central in an attempt to get onto the Skybridge at Petronas Towers. Now let me also add, why the hell is it that most cities in the world can get their public transport systems right and yet Sydney languishes like a third world leper and can't decide on whether urban infrastructure should or shouldn't be built, where it 'may be built' or whether its actually required? It's so infuriating to see city after city do it far better, smarter and with obvious consideration for moving their population around the city with the efficiency that's required than Sydney. In the public transport stakes Sydney simply sucks.

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Petronas was the destination for the morning, which made the agenda after ofcourse some lunch and a few drinks at, I believe, the Mandarin hotel - which incidentally had a great view over KLCC park. After wondering from the hotel to Petronas and enduring a 10min 'How wonderful is Petronas Petroleum and aren't we just the representative of ALL things good in the world', we headed up to the Skybridge.

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Now, some quick facts on Petronas - during the years 1998-2004 they were known as being the tallest building on earth and are still the tallest twin towers on earth standing at 451.9 mtrs. The Skybridge resides on the 41st and 42nd level of the building and is known to be the tallest double storey skybridge out in the market, coupled with that, the bridge is not bolted onto the tower but rather is allowed to slide in and out of both towers so that during high wind it doesn't buckle or break.

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Below are some of the shots taken of Petronas on this day.

KLCC Park taken from Petronas Towers - Kuala Lumpur

Petronas Towers taken from KLCC Park - Kuala Lumpur

Petronas Towers - Kuala Lumpur

The towers themselves are impressive but the view from the Skybridge it has to be said is a little underwhelming. I mean, Kuala Lumpur itself is probably not the most aesthetically appealing city going around but that's not to say that it's not interesting. I've been to many a city that isn't considered as being picturesque but certainly packs a punch in a cultural, historical or social sense. Anyway, lets get back to standard programming, am going off on a slight tangent here.

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With our time at Petronas up we managed our way back to Chinatown where JJ and I decided to pull up a couple of stools at the Reggae bar and drink...and drink some more...and perhaps took the option of having some more after that. Kicking off proceedings was Marley, more than apt for the bar and more than providing a chilled vibe when kicking back with a few drinks in hand. I only wished that the bar maintained their standard and didn't drop into RnB later in the evening, it's what made the place 'reasonable' rather than fantastic. Our other tag alongs, Jason and Audrey joined us for a few beverages later that evening before heading down to one of the many dining options in Chinatown, where it must be said, we had an unbelievably fantastic lemon chicken...seriously, it was the culinary highlight of our journey (well...almost, I'd have to say that the 'massive burger' I had in Vang Vieng beat it hands down)...but that is another story for a later date. On this evening however, we downed many more Tigers and made our way into inebriated heaven with the full knowledge that the next day we would be in the Land of a Million Elephants.

Street hawker in Chinatown - Kuala Lumpur


Reggae Bar, Chinatown - Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur - KL Streetsmarts

JJ and I took it to the streets after a few hours spent indoors recovering from our flight. What initially commenced as a search for Petronas Towers and some incidental KL discovery turned into an impromptu pub crawl, well, as impromptu as two alcoholics could make it without actually colluding consciously.

I can't remember the name of the first place that we stopped but it was a warm up Carlsberg before making our way down the street to the Beach Bar for frozen margaritas of all shapes, colours and tastes.

The Stairway to heaven - Beach Bar - Kuala Lumpur

The Stairway to heaven wasn't the only ethereal offering at the Beach bar. This shot was actually inspired by some monk who had disappeared either up or behind the stairs after ripping me of via a faux blessing and associated trinket. I think it went something like, (Monk), 'I see a tourist, time to get my spiritual game on' - (Henry) 'Oh, how charming, a monk has chosen to offer me a blessing out of all these masses of equivalent dumbasses, (Monk), 'Locked in Eddie, insert fake cowshit blessing here, (Henry) 'Well, thanks Monkey, that was kind of amusing, (Monk) 'Ok, now for the scam. So the monk hands over his trinket after the blessing and starts almost humming, 'Money, money, money' - seriously, it sounding like a bee buzzing around my head although I knew that he was angling for some ringitt. The Monkey even suggested some BS amount before I parted with 1/20 of what he requested! Dude, it's a blessing, not a lesson in naivety. Ofcourse, it was a lesson of the later and after the little bastard disappeared I felt like chasing him down and shoving the trinket in his face with a request for a refund.

Onwards and upwards, and in doing so JJ and I found our way to another cool bar where cocktails were plentiful, delivered with some great alcohol content and generally provided us with that comfortable holiday vibe. We also managed to dodge a torrential downpour later in the evening, which was neither here nor there because we really weren't moving anytime soon, the margaritas were pretty damn good.

Our other partners in all this alcohol induced gave us a call a few hours later and invited us back to the beach bar for a continuation of festivities before heading off in search of some authentic Indian or Malayan food, whichever came first. From memory I believe the aim was to check out Little India but my memory fails me several months after the event, oh, to be 20, lively, spritely and to have my memory back.....now, where was I??

Lights on Petronas - Kuala Lumpur

We managed to get ourselves some reasonable food that night for 'cheap cheap' before heading back into Chinatown for what was inevitably going to be more drinking - it had to happen. By good fortune rather then design we stumbled across the Beatles Bar which happened to be, 'All Beatles, ALL the time' - apologies to Beatles fans, but the Fab Four tick me off, frankly I think they're average and their 'sameness' is infuriating but I can deal when I'm a few drinks down. What made this place tres cool however was not the music but the set up. Not only was there great alcohol on offer but it presented to us a fantastic Sheeshing opportunity with bare footed abandon, amongst plush cushions, close to the floor tables, and all others things Arabic - a far more Moroccan feel than was comfortable for KL, but I wasn't complaining.

Beatles Bar - in Chinatown - Kuala Lumpur

Jase getting his Sheesh on - Beatles Bar - Chinatown - Kuala Lumpur

The night ending up being fairly decent, inevitably long and one filled with that initial 'holiday vibe', you know, the one right at the start of proceedings where all things seem possible and that excited, chilled, 'I can do what I want, at will' vibe is still in the air. On this occasions I often to my own mental assessment on how things may fare or where they may fracture. All in all, the group seemed to be in good spirits but even then, like I didn't know before I left, that Jase would inevitably end up pissing me off...and I guess in the same manner I'd do the same thing to him...that in itself is probably another story left for another time and place. Lets just say that on this night we all finished up wondering back through Chinatown in the early hours with the lyrics of 'Yellow Submarine' firmly in the forefront of hours minds.

Kuala Lumpur - It's down the Alphaville

'Elisher X' wasn't too bad a ride for an no frills, fly by night, 'you pay for what you get' airline. I mean $750 return to Laos from Sydney is an insance result in anyone's books, although just checking on prices recently I've found that you can actually get into KL from Melbourne for $318 return !!? What the hell is going on with airfares, it's nuts ! Not that I'm complaining, just that I wish these airfares had been around earlier.

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In any case, JJ and I shared a three seater out of Melbourne, Jase and Audrey sat a row in front of us sharing another three seater. I few hours into the flight I made my way onto the floor underneath the seats, hijacked a bag for a pillow and 'hey presto', magical result. One of the most comfortable sleeps I've had on a flight for quite sometime. I've got to say, being 167cms has its benefits, not many, but this is certainly one of them.

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So Kuala Lumpur is considered to be a city of the world, or rather, an Alpha city. Basically its one of those cities that are deemed to be an important 'node point' within the context of the global economic system. I guess its importance is derived from its geography, financial linkages, its fit within the concept of globalisation etc. My first take on KL landing at the the Air Asia X budget terminal was what I expected, hot, humid and tropical in feel. Driving from the aiport into the city it was visible that there had been rapid expansion in the area for some time, there was distinct signs of urbanisation a fair way out of the city, as well as fairly large industrial complexes. I can't remember exactly when it was but I do recall sighting the iconic Petronas Towers a fair way out of the centre, considering that they were recognised at one point the tallests buildings on earth it's no suprise that they act as the 'beacon of KL'.

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The city centre visually is somewhat of a mixture of old worn, colonial style buildings, new modern tributes to consumerism and economic development, and then something else, an in between mixture that typifies that transition. We entered KL somewhere between 9 and 10 am, of course surrounded by vehicles of all sorts, traffic bountiful and I guess these days a 'right of passage' for a modern metropolis. Our digs for the next few days was to be the Swiss Inn in Chinatown. Relatively inexpensive, located right in the middle of the Chinatown action and close to most transport means it seemed to be an ideal location to do a little exploring before splitting for Lao in a few days.

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Our first task on arrival however was to negate the labyrinth of halls and doors that was the ground floor, and for that matter, the upper floors of the Swiss Inn. For the uninitiated it was quite confusing and could have been a potential frustration if we didn't have four minds on the orienteering task at hand....but hey, 'we're that good' and we sorted out our way in and to our rooms without anyone having a stroke. It was at this point that we chose to recover from our Elisher X experience, steal some Z's and rejuvinate our minds before hitting the streets to discover exactly what KL had to offer.

LAOS - where it began

The seed of the idea that germinated and established itself into a monstrous, grotesque comphor laurel came from a now redundant BA that I worked with 18 months ago. We were discussing my then pending trip to Vietnam and Cambodia when he mentioned an almost mythical, Apocolypse Now type of place that existed somewhere in the midst of their next door neighbour Laos. He made mention of river side bamboo bars, ridiculous swings, slides, endless parties and forgotten days. Needless to say, whilst the name of the guy remains lost to me for eternity, the idea remained and it was passed on to my travelling partner in crime, JC to investigate. We did find out via some well constructed YouTube and Google searches that the port of 'endless dreams' was Vang Vieng, basically a backpacker's pit stop, known for it's tubing and extra curricular activities, please see 'happy pizza' for ease of reference. In any case, there it was, the idea of Laos hatched in our small minds, left for review at another date.

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So the months passed on by and the fondness of our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia resurfaced on occassion with discussions of perhaps some day soon making a return to that part of the world. Then, on one fateful September evening, with the air heavy with discussion of Air Asia X and their ridiculous deals that they apparently seemed to be offering to their down under cousins, we drank, reminisced, drank some more, reminisced and then decided to blow apart the fact from fiction by visiting the Air Asia site in order to discover the reality of fuel levies, taxes, pillow case surcharges, arm rest subsidies etc. Through our alcohol induced haze, faulty calculations and travel bravado we managed to plot a course that would get use from Sydney to Vientiane via Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur for a tick over $700 AUD - "Bullsh*t", right !? Well my friends no, the fiction was of course fact. With adventure in our hearts and tequila in our mind we booked Laos on a wing and a prayer, and thus was born our journey into the Land of a Millions elephants.

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I have got to say, from the time of booking I was a little apprehensive at the travelling party make up. Not so much that initially it was only three people but due to the fact that JC's attitude towards me over the previous months had really started to piss me off and I really didn't know if I could hang out another six months before taking off without wanting to break his neck. Hmmm, now that line wasn't particularly diplomatic now was it ? Needless to say, it was true. I'm not quite sure how it came to pass but I managed to sell JJ on the idea of of joining us for 'Laoescapades' and so it was that on the evening of 02-MAR-09 , JJ, JC, Audrey and myself met at the Sydney domestic terminal to commence a journey to a land where UXO's are part of common venacular.

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Sydney domestic

It commonly goes like this, JC prefers to get to a point of departure 15 hours prior to what a reasonable arrival time might be, 'just in case', 'something' might happen. Who knows what the hell is going on in that brain but the control freak dial is somewhere up at 12, where mine is dialled back to a comfortable 8. The rest, well, they don't even register. I'm not sure JJ even knew what country we were going to prior to making it to the airport, let alone need to figure out the logistics of gate numbers and alike.

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Of course you may be asking why Sydney domestic and the simple answer is that Air Asia for the moment was only making the KL run out of Melbourne. A quick jump down the Avalon was thus needed in order to get us across the line for a 2:00am picks up from Tullamarine. I guess this part of the journey I can call 'the good', the 'amicable', the 'optimistic' section. Aside from Avalon being about 15kms outside of Geelong and about 80kms from Melbourne, the drive up to Melbourne itself was alright and a night on Brunswick St, hanging out in a quaint small Spanish restaurant / bar, taking down a few drinks and lining up some tapas is pretty much what the doctor ordered. Frankly, I could have stayed there a few nights longer but that's the way Melbourne and I operate (just move there already Henry) - yes, I should.

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So 02:00 ticks on by and we're kicking back in the lounge area of Tullamarine, putting back a few drinks before flying off into the early morning sky and heading north to KL. All excited, (except for Jase - we're constantly told how he's not), we make our run down express route 1 of Tullamarine and head north.

It's a wrap

A year removed from this escapade, recalling the intricacies are a little difficult but enjoyable at the same time. From memory I think my last few hours in Rome involved a bus ride back from the Vatican, spending a lot more time in front of the Trevi fountain and enjoying the most Italian meal that I could find in the vicinity. Kind of like having a vegemite sandwhich whilst walking across the Harbour Bridge and taking a photo of the Opera House.

In Summary - lets go with the greatest hits

Favourite places: Paris, Fes, Marrakech

Most Surprising: Rome

Coolest place for a night out: Barcelona, Madrid

Favourite Hotel: Dar One Riad - Marrakech

Best place to get totally lost: Fes

Best place to drink and get totally lost: Barcelona

Coolest moment: Seeing the Eiffel Tower for the very first time - it's a long way from Year 8 French class.

Uncoolest: Have some Moroccan teenager rip-off my phone with their typical 'My brother, it's in your best interests' look.

Best comeback: Video taping the pick pocket that tried to take off with my wallet in D'jemma el Fna, Marrakech.

Most Random ..but still cool event: Running into Michel De La Chaise in Vienna airport, being on the same flight home as me, staying at the same hotel in Dubai and then hanging out with him for a night, drinking, smoking some sheesha and catching cabs to random tourist destinations at 4am, lol, awesome !

Best Meal: Chez Robert et Louis, Le Marais, Paris.

Total Flights: 10

Total kms covered: 39,568

Rome - The Wholly Sea -Città del Vaticano

…and yes, I know it’s the Holy See


No rest for the wicked or the passionate young traveller (that’s right, I called myself young) ! Turn around times on my holidays are notoriously short, part of that being alcohol related and the other part being my desire to loose myself in a new city where the objective is to check things out rather than check out late. Also, on this day I had another objective, cracking the Vatican City State effectively means that I’d be leaving Italy behind for a few hours and entering another country. No additional stamp on the passport but then again, in these modern EU times, passport stamps are increasing becoming a rarity.

So, this state is effectively a walled enclave within the city of Rome, and with a burgeoning population of 900 people, coupled with a vast territory of 110 acres, is also the smallest country on earth in reference to both size and population. Hmmm, I wonder what their birth rate is ? It is in fact the big police doughnut if you wanted to know.

My morning in Rome effectively involved a bit of a cruise around on one of those ‘jump on – jump off’ buses but the primary stop for me was to be Piazza San Pietro (St Peter’s Square). As I ‘jumped-off’ the bus and strolled up along with the few thousand other pilgrims, I noticed that St.Peter’s Basilica was actually quite freakin’ enormous. Right, so this is where the Pope and his cohorts kick it during the week hey, it’s kind of grandiose in that typically Catholic way and slightly reverent ….in that typically Catholic way also. On this occasion I wasn’t in for any sort of guilt trip although I noticed a few of the Papal police kicking people out of the queue to enter the Basilica for not wearing ‘appropriate’ clothing? Go figure, the Hard Rock café lives by the credo of ‘love all, serve all’ and here the centre of the universe for Catholics goes by the credo ‘Love all, serve all of those dressed appropriately’. Apparently the large forecourt in front of the Basilica was designed so that the largest number of people could see the Pope during mass /prayer time / blessings etc. Right in the centre is an enormous obelisk, again, from some background reading it’s apparently an Egyptian obelisk made of red
granite and stands at 40+ mtrs from its base.

St Peter's Square

The queue to get in was definitely the most disorganised that I had stood in over the past few weeks but they’re Italian ( or are they ‘Vaticano’), either way, you kind of expect it. You could see the Catholics just wanting to ‘lose it’ but we’re unfortunately beaten back by their own moral standing and the inevitable judgment that would have come with the line, ‘Aren’t you Catholic’ .

Once inside I can say that the place was as enormous as it was on the outside, and I guess that’s what got to me, just the sheer vastness. I did at that moment thing that the acoustics in the joint would be befitting of a rock concert, but who would do the gig ? Perhaps God himself ? Aka Bono ! I guess there’s nothing too much additional to report about the interior, the more impressive element was the walk up to the top of the dome. I did encounter momentary flashbacks to my Chu Chi tunnel experience when the staircase closed in on me as I wound around the outside of the dome and my brain told me that the ‘fear’ trigger was being alerted because we were being enclosed. Stupid brain, I got over that one quick smart by convincing myself that I’d be such a pansy if I lost the plot - and so I didn’t !! lol

The view from the top of St.Peters was spectacular! Again, what took me by surprise was that it seemed like the outskirts of the city was actually quite close to the city centre. None of those sprawling suburban landscapes that we mentally equate as being a typical characteristic of a well known city.

….hmmm, am stopping here, one more Roman fixture to go before I wrap up my European escapades and start discussing the anguish, pain and logistical nightmare that. was Laos.