Vientiane

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We arrived here at 5am, fresh from a night's bus journey! The plan was to go and watch the sunrise over the Mekong until the guest houses opened, but after half an hour under seige by the local mosquitos and still no sign of the sun we'd had enough and checked into the nearest hotel (which just happened to be a nice one with a pool).

Vientiane is the capital city of Laos PDR but is still quite laid back with no visible rush hour (or traffic really). It has it's own Arc de Triomphe, some interesting Temples and the very first Lao skyscraper (about 10 floors) overlooking the parched river.

We came, saw and moved on pretty quickly. Our bus out was overbooked so the driver quickly acquired some plastic garden chairs for the people without a seat to sit on in the aisle!!! Safety first as always in Asia.

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Photos

The Mekong
It is there, you just have to look really hard. Glad we chose not to sail to Vientiane.

Comments

[christopher]

Lively laos
Some day you might look to pick up Brett Dakin's "Another Quiet American" -- a memoir of this recent US college grad's stint at the Laos National Travel Authority in Vientiene. Not exactly a gem of a text, but worth a look since you've been there. Kate and I are still not sure how many day's we'll be in Laos as Luang Phrabang is taking several days to soak in. Unforutnately, someone stole one of our rental bikes today from outside the Red Cross. Nasty wee pilferer! Makes L.P. seem that much less inviting. I do plan to go back to tonight for my massage.