In which I go questing far afield...

In search of a decent hamburger.

For reasons which escape me, hamburgers in Thailand are all fried, McDonalds'-style, and I've been unable to find a decent barbecued burger in six months here. As fried burgers go, the local ones are fine, but nobody seems to grasp what an absurd compromise that is.

And yet, four or five months ago, someone from Indonesia told me that Southeast Asia's best burger joint is in Vientiane, the Laotian capital about 12 hours' bus travel from here. So I'm going looking for a fine authentic hamburger, in the landlocked, thinly populated geopgraphical heart of Indochina. Sure, makes sense. (And while I'm at it, I'll get a new visa so Thailand doesn't deport me.)

Vientiane (so named because the colonial French overlords couldn't pronounce "Wieng Chan") apparently has few charms beyond fine sandwiches, so once my visa woes are resolved I'll head northeast (I think) to explore the mysterious Plain of Jars. Then I'll zip over to Luang Prabang, a reputedly lovely hybrid of SE Asian charm and French food and architecture - UNESCO tells me that I'd be foolish to miss it. And then I'll fly back to Chiang Mai somehow next Sunday... I think. Lao Airlines has been a little unclear on that point.

I'll have a spot of spare time while I wait for my visa in Vientiane and ride buses around this anachronistic country, and I'm leaving my computer and DVD player at home (shocking!), so my notebook will occupy my time. This should result in many many blog posts, of the sort that have been promised abundantly in recent weeks but continuously sidelined by my newly hectic work schedule.

Wish me luck - I'll be carefully avoiding UXOs, gorging myself on the best of the local food, and avoiding some of the more noxious Lao "delicacies". More on those later, when I better come to grips with some of the profoundly odd things considered tasty in Southeast Asia. See you in a week, less if I can find a decent Internet connection - not something at which Communist countries usually excel.