4/5/02 Vientiene, Laos (Phillip)
Back in Vientiene at last to catch our bus to Vietnam on Monday. The bus ride is going to take 24 hours and we're still not sure what kind of bus it is (makes a big difference). I really hope it has air-con! Vientiene is a lovely little city, a cross between French styling and Laos styling. There are lots of Western food outlets and this morning we ate at a great Scandinavian Bakery. My tummy hasn't recovered from hitting Asia 2 months ago so I'm trying to cut down on rich food. I read Terry Waite's autobiography yesterday on the bus (a girl gave it to me) and was really impressed. I knew the name and the basic situation but the book really sucks you in. I'm quite enjoying this reading thing; it's new to me!
I've also been working on my updated travel plan, seems like getting to Hong Kong and Beijing is do-able and South Africa
is easy from there. I plan on spending about two weeks in China and a month in the lower 4 countries of Southern Africa
. It looks like I'll be on my own since Kel is heading to Europe early.