Vientiane - Laos

June 11th - 14th, 2016

We left pretty Luang Prabang on the early morning bus, setting off spot on time at 7am for our 8-10 hour journey. Although crammed full, the minibus was quite comfortable and thankfully the aircon worked really well even during the hottest part of the day, the only annoyance on our trip was the ever increasing frequency with which the driver decided to stop and pull over. The first stop was an hour and a half in, which was fine, except it was just to a bunch of stalls selling cucumbers at the side of the road, which everyone bought bag loads of and had to find room for on the bus. Then we began stopping for cigarette breaks, toilet breaks (side of the road with a few bushes or trees), food stops, (thankfully one with actual loos!), stops to top up the oil in the bus, and finally once people started getting off at their destinations (mostly random places along the highway) stops to pick up people along the way. Luckily the scenery was amazing for most of the journey as we traversed through huge lush valleys and wound up and around tree clad mountains, plus we had plenty of snacks to keep us going and new books that we had managed to swap at a book exchange in Luang Prabang.

When we finally arrived at the bus station we were able to join a tuk tuk heading to the centre of town along with several other people and spent a dusty half an hour getting bumped and jostled around before arriving near to our hotel. We checked in and as it was now quite late, decided to go out in search of dinner. We ended up taking a walk past the National Museum and the Lao National Cultural Hall, a brilliant white and gold building that stands proudly by itself, its beautiful architecture a contrast to the mostly boring, box like constructions in the central area. After wandering through the circular touristy foodcourt surrounding the Nam Phou Fountain and back past the Cultural Hall where there was some live music being played in the adjacent carpark, we ended up back near to our hotel and found a place selling dumplings which we enjoyed before retiring to our room for the night.

Vientiane doesn't feel like a capital city, more like a forgotten town in a backwater somewhere, during the day the place is practically deserted and people only seem to come out at night for the markets and food stalls that begin to set up early evening. Our 2 days here dragged on relentlessly, there are a few sights, the Presidential Palace, which you can't visit and was swarming with security one day so that we weren't even allowed to cross the road in front of it, the Lane Xang Avenue, modelled on the Champs Elysees but not nearly as impressive, even with its own Arc de Triomphe at the opposite end to the Palace. This was built, but not completed in the late 50's and has a picturesque little park and fountains around it where people gather in the evenings to socialise and take endless selfies (the locals more so than the tourists!) and is surrounded by a few government buildings. The only other thing of any note, without going out of the city on a tour, was the large park that runs parallel with the Mekong which is home to a large market on Sunday afternoons and is absolutely packed with people. Up on the broad pavement that runs between the park and the river, the road is blocked off to traffic and people gather to watch the lovely sunsets, take part in mass zumba sessions and generally relax before the new week begins.

We weren't particularly inspired by Vientiane and wished we didn't have as much time here as we did, there really being nothing for us to do except wonder at the large number of old European men who seem to come here to spend their final years drinking themselves into oblivion on the cheap booze. However, it did give us a chance to recharge and get up to date uploading photos and writing this blog before our last stretch of travel which looks like it will be busy and full of things to see and do.....Next stop Hanoi in Vietnam!!