Vientiane, Laos

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Vientiane as a capital city is amazingly quiet, especially after coming from the chaos that is China. There’s hardly any traffic, the Tuk Tuk drivers take no for an answer the first time you say it and there are hardly any street vendors and beggars tugging at your shirt every 5 minutes! Strange the whole population of Laos is significantly less than any of the majority of cities we visited in China.

Despite the national midnight curfew we found an open air night club on the forth floor of the Chan Palace hotel. Open until 4am this popular club plays hosts to the trendy Vientiane locals and it wasn't long before we were chatting to a friendly group who insisted we help them finish a couple bottles of Johnny Walker. They would not take no for an answer! Not wanting to cause any offence we obliged and it wasn't long before we were on first name terms... amusingly they couldn't pronounce 'Alan' and instead said 'Alien'! and hence this is my new nickname. We had a good night and decided to take them up on their offer of showing us around their city the following day.

It was almost like an organised tour - we were picked up around 11am and shown around the sights of the city. In the late afternoon we were treated to a private boat trip and spent the day cruising along the Mekong River. This was our first and last opportunity to sample 'Original Vientiane Lao Cuisine' not sure what to expect we happily went along with the flow. We were presented with a small feast which consisted of both normal and strange dishes which included a plate of fried crickets and live shrimp which were still jumping about on the plate! Well as the saying goes... when in Rome!!

I feel Vientiane has little to offer the tourist but our stay in Vientiane was very enjoyable, often its the people you meet rather than the places you see which stick in your mind. If you’re reading this thanks Alex, Than, Vone, Fen, Cisse and Mon for a great time and your kind hospitality.

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