After leaving Viantiane, the capital of Laos which means sandalwood city, I understood that Laos means roads.. I went to Vang Vieng from the capital Vientiane in 4 hours.. How tired I am.. It took 10 hours from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang.. I went to Pakbeng by boat from Luang Prabang on the Mekong River, 11 hours. From there, I changed 2 buses and reached Luang Nam Tha in 8 hours.. From there, I reached Nong Khiaw near the Vietnamese border in 11 hours.. And so it goes on and on.
More than 60 hours of my trip was spent on the roads, maybe even more, while I was thinking about Luang Prabang, Phonsavan, and back to the capital Vientiane.
When I got so tired, I came back. I deserved complacency after I came back. Actually I had a plan to rest here for a few days and hit the south roads. I didn’t have much time, but if I moved a little faster, I could see the must-see places and move on to Cambodia from there.. But it seems that I can’t move from my place.
I especially took the opportunity to show the attention it deserves to my body, which was trekking in the mountains and villages and weakened due to not being able to eat properly.. When I talked to the owner of a business at a hairdresser I went to for a haircut, she learned that my hometown is Turkey and she described the Istanbul Restaurant to me, which caused many of my plans to change.
I spent almost all of my days here for the next week.. My visit to the restaurant, which started at breakfast, lasted until I went to sleep at the hotel.. I even changed my hotel to a hotel very close to the restaurant.. While Songül sister said “hello” to me, I said to her, “If you have lahmacun, I will eat it?” we started getting acquainted with my saying. Then there was a huge eggplant kebab in front of me and ayran that I hadn’t had in almost 2 years.
Then I met Idris, the wife of Songül sister.. We had very pleasant and nice conversations with the owners of Laos’ first and only Turkish restaurant.. We had very good breakfasts together. Very, very tasty, far away dishes came to me one by one.. It was as if I was not at the restaurant but at home, my mother and sister were bringing food.
They made me feel that warmth too.. This is what actually increased the taste and enjoyment of the food.. You should definitely taste the delicacies of the Istanbul Restaurant, who are on their way to Laos, and those who do not have time should at least take a tea break here.. It’s close to the Mekong River.
I met two travelers from Istanbul, Osman and Tuğba, for now they are registered as the first backpackers I’ve met somewhere without correspondence, but I still haven’t met a traveler from my hometown anywhere by chance.
I met my brother Serdar there again. Galatasaray graduate, businessman, investor in Laos. He took me to the French Cultural Center. We drank very nice red wines together and had long conversations over the course of several days.. I met with Sedat. In fact, he was a friend of a friend of mine and we had corresponded with him several times.
He wanted me to meet him if I was in Vietnam.. Sadat is a multinational businessman living in Vietnam but due to his investments in many countries.. While I was hoping to meet him in Vietnam, luckily once again came to Vientiane, this charming capital city.. I deserved such laziness after long journeys and activities.
Day 591: Laos:23, Vientiane. 15 March 2012