Being on the road during my visa run to Vientiane took it’s toll on me. I got sick again which is find quite frustrating. This time so lost my voice which presents a challenge when teaching. I improvised and printed out crossword puzzles for my students to complete. Just another obstacle that I overcame and adversity faced. 
Vientiane I found to be quite uninteresting, it was surprising how sparsely populated it is for a capital city. It felt like a ghost town when compared to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh. The local attractions were quite sparse as well. The one that I felt was truly interesting was the COPE center which serves to educate visitors of how lives are still being detrimentally effected by America’s secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War. Being able to handle a cluster bomb and learn how it is still effecting the lives of Laotians today was interesting.

Of course I cannot say that I was culturally immersed in Laos in any way as I was only there for a few days and didn’t have a whole lot of meaningful interactions with locals. The attractions may have been less than stellar, but I’m sure there are many interesting people to meet in the country.

Kingston S. Lim

July 28, 2019

Bangkok, Thailand