DVD 'shops' and translation ridiculousness

Downtown Vientiane, kiddie corner from Homeideal, is the Seng Lao DVD shop. Since the nearest movie theater in Thailand, and there are only three TV channels in English, DVD shops are the Lao expat's main resource for lazy entertainment. I assume all the DVDs are pirated, which normally I'm against, but the quality is good (none of the 'hidden camera in a movie theater' stuff) and the DVDs cost 10,000kip each ($1.33).

The beautiful thing that I realized yesterday: some of the back cover summaries on the DVDs are wrong.

They should be the studio's teaser, trying to get you to watch the movie; instead, some of the back covers at Seng Lao are movie reviews. Some of these movie reviews are NOT very flattering. 

This movie (something with a princess and a Hawaiian name that starts with K) had the best / worst review I've seen yet.  Don't know if the quality is good enough to read, but essentially the review talked about how sub-par the acting in the movie was.

For example: 'the script, sadly, doesn't fully flesh her out as I had hoped', '[character] is two-dimensional, and is allowed only to look deeply concerned', 'comes off as just a generic...' (This is how the summary trails off)

Kip

Kip is the Lao currency. There are no coins, only bills, and they come in denominations of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000. 

Thoughts on spending Lao money: I find the 20,000kip and 50,000kip bills to be the most useful by far, especially when buying food (which is the main thing I buy). Lunch is typically 20,000kip.

And when I spend 100,000kip on a night out, I think 'man that was expensive!'

Jus trip out that in perspective, 100,000kip is about $13.

Lao Drivers License

I look like Morticia from the Addam's Family...

But I officially have my Lao driver's license ! (And yes it is spelled with an 's' on all the application forms)

Also they misspelled my name.

But whatevs, time to get this girl a scooter!

Vang Vieng day 1

After a rainy and nail-biting three hour drive through the mountains (after dark), we finally got to Vang Vieng, a city north of Vientiane, at 9pm on Friday.

Vang Vieng used to be an opiate-filled backpackers' haven but since government crackdowns it has become more of an Aussie hippie getaway. 

Mountains and clouds 

Woman pulling her cow

Hand-woven scarves on display near the Blue Lagoon 

Also, it's rainy season...

Which is a rough time for a city known for its outdoor activities. It seems that the major 'things to do' in Vang Vieng are 

1. cave exploring / spelunking 

2. hiking 

3. swimming in lagoons 

4. biking

5. tubing down the river, and 

6. getting high.

We did #1-3 today with plans for #5 tomorrow.

The area around here is incredible :)

Yogurt

This is yogurt, Thai-style.

This is also why I rarely eat yogurt here.

Corn and two kinds of beans. Gross.

I miss Yoplait/ the random 'hippie brand' Cascade Meadows that they have at Whole Foods.

Also I miss Whole Foods.

Green café

Food in Vientiane is delicious, and Asian food is cheap.

One of my favorite restaurants near work is the Green Cafe. 

A watermelon shake is 5,000kip and green curry is 20,000kip. That's like $3.50.

40 hours in Bangkok

We spent approx 40 hrs in Bangkok last weekend. Using Central Lao airlines it was $120 round trip. And they give you dinner (shrimp fried rice, which I thought was an interesting choice for a flight... Seafood smell circulating? Not great)

But here are some pics from that weekend :

Tuk tuks in Thailand are a lot cuter, and the drivers speak MUCH better English.

Yeah we went to a movie- The Wolverine.  The Siam Paragon was really nice, plus there are no modern movie theaters in Laos.

Griffin eating a scorpion along Susie street.

Soi cowboy.