Vietiane

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We flew to the capital city Vientiane and took a taxi to the hotels recommended by the Lonely Planet. Frankly they were either overpriced or dirty. Our taxi driver seemed very friendly and on his advise we tried a hotel that had just opened. Whilst a bit out of our budget (nearly $30 per night) we immediatley checked in as the rooms were huge with teak floors, massive thick beds, plasma screen TV and a huge bathroom with a hot shower. Paradise.

As we were a bit tired after 3 countries in 3 days we spent the afternoon getting £4 massages and wondering around the quaint village like capital. After eating a £4 filet mignon for dinner we went to a nearby bar and found out that the local Beer Lao was very nice and due to it being a former French colony Laura could order proper French red wine. This was a country we were going to like!

The next morning we hired some old creaky bikes for £1 and set off to explore the city. Despite looking in about 20 shops we could only find bikes with a 22inch frame - suitable for kids aged 8-10 - which meant that I had to cycle like a circus clown with my knees up by my ears and completely unable to turn corners. Fortunately Vientiane is a sleepy place with quiet safe roads and nobody drives over 10mph so we were still safe to cycle! We spent the afternoon looking at the temples and monuments as well as the Mekong river separating Laos from Thailand. We climbed to the top of the 'Arc de Triomph' and saw a water park in the distance. We decided to change our morning bus to an afternoon one for a morning of fun in 'Laos only water-park'!

We arrived at the waterpark at 10Am, paid our entrance fee and proceeded into the park. We were greeted by 10 smiling lifeguards and no other customers! Despite being 25 degrees it was considered winter so no locals would swim at that time of year and as it wasn't in any guide books (it is 3 months old) no tourists were there either. Each time we wanted to go on a slide, the lifeguards fired up the engines to pump the water and then turned off the motors once we had reached the bottom! We really did have our own private fun park - a bit like Michael Jackson's Neverland but with less kids and more adult supervision. The 5th and final slide we went on was one of those 5 lane racing slides. Unfortunately it had been built with too small a run off so they had needed to slow down the riders. Their chosen method was to glue strips of rubber mats at various points of the slide. Lying on my front with my back arched (as instructed) I flew down the slide and my nuts took the full impact of each of the 10 speed bumps. I reached the bottom winded and bruised and decided that an hour of sunbathing would be the best decision rather than risk the side again! We walked over to the other side of the complex to grab some sun loungers by the pool. For our own safety 2 lifeguards followed and sat near us with emergency floats and whistles at the ready! That afternoon we took the bus to Vang Vien.

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Photos

Pha That Luang Temple, Vientiane
Big, golden and the symbol of Laos

Bananakids
Playful kids at the temple

Waterpark
Our very own private waterpark!