Vientiane - exploring on foot

The experiences of the first two days reinforce our decision to continue exploring Vientiane on foot - the city center is manageable. We are fascinated by the contrast between crumbling buildings and attempts to present a modern face.

On the very first afternoon - right after our arrival - the power went out in our neighborhood. No surprise, given the incomprehensible tangle of cables, the wild-growing 'trees' of wires that we have never seen before. Hotels that have seen better days. The first shopping centers are up and getting ready for Christmas. Entire floors are empty, as if time has overtaken them. A fantastic Japanese exhibition. Next door, the next shopping temples are already sprouting. Construction ruins before they are even occupied.

At Talat Sao, the largest market in the city, where household goods and fabrics of all kinds are sold, we encounter an Apsara once again, a 'spirit of the clouds.' She appears out of nowhere, waves at us kindly, and then dissolves into the nothingness from which she came. Later, we see her again, massaging a seller's feet with all her body weight.

In front of a cigar club, a fat black Mercedes is parked, and from the display, Che greets us with a fat Cuban cigar in his mouth. A real-life Marxism-Leninism, to which Laos adheres. A driver cleans the car and checks the oil level - under the hood, a thick layer of dust, reflecting the condition of the roads.

The streets are empty, no honking. I stand in the middle of the city's largest boulevard to take photographs.

What is shocking are the stranded Westerners. Tourists? Most of them are old, grey men. We don’t know if they were washed over from Thailand across the Mekong and got stuck. Flotsam.

This city is insane! Crazy! Fascinating! I don't even try to impose any structure on the images.