Vino in Vientiane

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Hello, from the capital of Laos. First impressions of Vientiane are that, it's a very relaxed city. Visitors have little to fear, except for open sewers and drains on the pavements. The odd car whizzes by, but definately the least congested capital we've experienced in South East Asia. We checked into a nice hotel for the first couple of days before settling on Thong Bay Guest House which is a little bit cheaper but highly recommended. It's located just outside the city centre amongst the backdrop of a beautiful garden and plenty of chill-out corners. So far we've been taking things slowly due to my tender ribs. I injured myself whilst belly-flopping in Vang Vieng. Poor old Amy is quite tired the last couple of days having to carry my ruck-sack to the hotel. I feel that I will have alot of favours to make up.

The last couple of days have been spent wandering around the town and taking in the sights of the Mekong. We enjoyed the delicacies from our favourite local bakery Joma's again, well me especially, the chocolate croissants are delicious. More luxury followed, we bought a bottle of vino after coming across a bottle of Torres in a local shop. We had been looking forward to drinking a glass of nice wine since we started the trip and weren't disappointed. Such simple pleasures!

On Saturday we decided to visit the home of our favourite beer in South East Asia, the Beer Laos factory. Unfortunately it was closed. I was looking forward to sipping on a cold one straight from the factory floor. More disappointment followed as my hat blew away in a gust of wind whilst sitting in the songthew. I've lost about 5 hats now since the trip started, I must be jinxed. Onwards to Buddha park which is a park littered with Buddha's and statues, the most famous being a reclining Buddha. It's quite amusing to see Buddha in so many different forms and shapes. My favourite Buddha changes all the time. Amy's favourite , tubby Buddha is shown below.

In the evening on our way back into town we encountered a snake. We couldn't believe it as we watched it jump up and then fly across the road. We were startled and glad it didn't decide to attack us. I attempted to take a photo of the snake much to Amy's amazement. Common sense prevailed as we slinked off into town. The rest of our journey to the restaurant was spent looking at shadows and checking behind us to see if any more snakes would dare come our way. We decided to return to our hostel by songthew, enough excitment for the heart for one day.

Today, our last day in Vientiane we visited the morning market which was the usual high jinx. I purchased another cap (Beer Lao this time) while Amy bought a pair of flipflops to replace those lost to the river in Luang Prabang. She's getting good at the bargaining. The trick is to keep smiling whilst bargaining in Laos. We then visited Paduxai a.k.a the 'Arc the Triumph' which was built by the French. You can climb up to the top which offers a great view of the city. Our last stop was Pha That Luang (a stupa and the main Wat in Vientiane) which was surprisingly interesting.

All in all we enjoyed chilling out in Vientiane. It was nice to feel the sunshine again. Next, we head back to Thailand!

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