After much effort in blogging on Thursday in Luang Prabang, the computer connection ate my homework, and a only a very early draft was saved.

Que Sera Sera.
The icing on the cake however wad me barging in on a Dutch girl sitting at the computer next to me as I overheard her explain to a stroppy American companion that she needed to spend as much time as it took to do her first English language job application for a position she really wanted. I gave up on my internet and helped this charming young women in altering her resume. (We changed the title to a Curriculum Vitae as it was a position in an academic research institution). Frankly, her spoken and written English was excellent, she had better vocabulary, spelling and grammar than most Australian graduates. However I feel that my input in making it more job specific helped. Mira, with a Bangladeshi father and Dutch mother was extremely grateful and we parted exchanging details, hugs and good wishes.

I missed having lunch at our favourite cheap place by the river, but met him there later to explore a deserted old French Colonial house he had found in a side street. The floor didn't give way underfoot, and it exuded quite a charm, with it's high ceilings and open rooms. A stroll to the big talat (market) saw Bob look like a likely candidate for illegal substances again (Never me. Anywhere. But Bob has been offered marijuana, pornography, little girls and here, opium.) It was the market of the locals supermarket and department store, although we left having only bought a small packet of dried banana (1,000 kip) yet to be eaten.

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We hadn't been looking forward over much to the bus trip (variously described as 8 or 9 hours) to Vientiane, however the first part of the journey in particular was an adventure in itself. We caught a jumbo (a motor cycle with a sidecar for 2 passengers, not an elephant or large ute-taxi as I imagined) to the bus station and were on board our special VIP bus early. It seemed a bit rich not travelling with the locals, however once the journey was underway we were very pleased. The road quickly rose up from the 300m elevation of Luang Prabang to pass through impossibly tiny villages of a few huts clustered together on sharp switchbacks and S-bends at 1,200, 1,300 and 1,400m. It was wonderfully and unexpectedly spectacular, with dogs, toddlers, chooks and pigs sitting patiently in the middle of the narrow road as traffic approached and stopped.

The driver was extremely careful and I'm sure that no passenger willed him to go faster. Thai pop music DVD's entertained us during the journey. A stop for lunch was (unbeknownst to us) included in our 110,000 kip fare, as was water and a dubious snack of something little a twinkie bar early on tin the journey. The local public (chicken) bus would take over 12 hours. This was just fine . . . .

A shared tuk tuk ride to the centre of Vientiane led us almost outside our first choice of accommodation from the lonely planet guide. A quick check of the room and the hot water service and the (non-negotiable) price of USD $15 for the night, and we checked in to the Vayakorn Guesthouse. It proved to be very comfortable after a wander along the Mee Kong River at dusk, and a simple light meal of a shared noodle salad from a local place (no menus or English). A wander around the town near the guesthouse (joy - is that a working ATM I see before me?), a bit of Friday night crime on ABC Asia Pacific, and a phone call to 'Joe' - the contact for the local Hash House Harriers.

I'm not too sure about the HHH, but we are committed now. They will meet at the local fountain for a 7 or 8 km run out of town with dinner and drinks after. It will be interesting if nothing else! I so enjoyed my run around Luang Prabang, and felt better, and indeed, faster than I had with my rapidly deteriorating form in Canberra before we left. Including having to walk across an iron bridge (no cars, lots of push and motor bikes, and s.l.o.w. old pedestrians, I did a most enjoyable 5km in 28:00 flat. Closer to 5 minute pace when I was moving. There is a good walking track along the Mee Kong described in a map of Vientiane which we shall explore, although we have not yet found suitable bikes to hire.