There is a very large berm with road and walkway protecting Vientiane from any possible river flooding. The thing is, as this is the dry season, the nearest water is close to a kilometer from it! So, one of the first walks included going out through the sand to get a closer look at the Mekong. A lot of our time in SE Asia has been near it. In fact, one blog entry highlights a day trip out in the delta. Interestingly, the water runs through five countries and over 4,800 kilometers. Strangely, it has several different names in a number of these places.
Jay stands on the Lao side but Thailand is clearly seen on the other.
In the evening our main quest was again to discover a new place to eat. We have tried to sample many different restaurants rather than falling into the trap of having just one favourite. Tonight, we went to a little family-owned Laos place. The food was very nice.
I could not help but think of differences in the preparation in tonight's restaurant and those at a US chain, like Denny's. The food here is completely made by scratch. It must be personally gratifying seeing a customer made happy by the fruits of one's own efforts. At most chains at home the meal is readied by simply mixing and reheating. Earlier today on Facebook, I left the following status update:
"I lost 40 pounds in the first 10 months of 2012. Then, I went to South and South-east Asia for 4.5 months ..."The implication is, of course, I've regained some of what I lost!