Stuck in Vientaine.

Vientaine is truly a lovely city, bursting with colonial French architecture, great little Asian and French restaurants, with bustling markets and a long promenade along the river. If you feel the need to take a week to stroll, sightsee and eat, this is the place to be. However, if you are anxious to get on with your journey......

Lonely Planet quite rightly informs it's readers that Tet (Jan. 31, Feb. 1&2 this year) is a very busy time for transport and accommodations in this part of the world. No problem. We were on the road and arriving Vientaine on Feb. 1st. Apply for our Vietnam Visas the morning we arrive, have them the next day, and travel to Vietnam at our leisure. Right? What Lonely Planet doesn't tell you is that during Tet, every employee of the Vietnam state gets 9 days off including those who work at embassies abroad. All Vietnamese embassies in Laos will reopen Feb. 6th. We have booked our flight to Hanoi on the 7th, hoping we can get our visas by the morning of the 7th but that is far from certain. Any of the wilderness activities we might enjoy are hours away by bus in the north and would require more time in travel than our time at the site. So for the next few days we will do what we can to enjoy Vientaine more than we had planned. Mind, I'm not complaining. I can think of a lot worse things to be doing than kicking back for a few days in Vientaine.