First solo trip... Starting with Vientiane, Laos

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After living abroad for such a long time, I thought it was time to really do some solo travel. I have previously travelled around China by myself before like Beijing but it was fairly easy because I had all the right apps, a bank account, Visa so it was essentially as easy as travelling in my own country. So I thought it was time to test myself and find 'me' if you will, so I booked flights to Laos and Thailand for Chinese New Year of 2018.

My first destination was Vientiane, Laos. All I knew about Laos was that it was a fairly Buddhist prominent country pretty close to China. So off I went. Luckily, I was blessed enough to have a connection via a friend in Suzhou for someone who lived in Vientiane so upon arrival this amazing stranger by the name of Bobby, picked me up from the airport, got me a SIM card and took me to dinner with delicious hot food.

After checking into the wrong hostel but finally getting some sleep, I woke up with one day to see and do as much as I could of Vientiane. Luckily, it was one of those cities you don't really want to stay in too long and as long as you have Google maps and a sense of wit about you, it is possible to do quite a fair bit in a day. I started off the morning by going to the Buddha Park by catching the bus from the central station. After a 45min drive still very tired from a lack of sleep, I arrived at the Buddha Park which was incredible. It was super peaceful and well worth a look. The Buddha's that were there to look at were huge in size and variation. After a coconut overlooking a river that I learned while in Laos actually boarders with Thailand too, I hopped back on the bus back into Vientiane.

Back in Vientiane I sought out all the main sight seeing landmarks for tourists and got my typical Instagram photos for proof. Luckily enough, when I was coming off the bus and walking to the first tourist site, a elderly gentleman wanted directions on where something was which I happened to be going to. So in typical Maria fashion, I made a new friend and we ended up seeing all the sites together by using tuk tuks and walking from place to place.

However, it was time to go so I met up with Bobby for our last supper together, slept one more night at my interesting (but little did I know definitely not the worst hostel) I have been in to catch a bus the following morning to one of my possibly favourite places; Vang Vieng.

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Photos

Bobby and I
My Vientiane Goddess #savedmylostsoul

Buddha Park
Beware the stairs. Almost fell..

Tuk Tuk Adventures
Still alive mum