We survived the night in the "auberge" and set off on our tour of the enigmatic Plain of Jars which has a two-fold interest. The first and obvious interest is that the area has 60 odd locations scattered about on hillsides and hilltops with huge stone jars that have been quarried out of rock and left to puzzle tourists 2,000 years later. You can just imagine the instigator of the project having a chuckle and saying "in 2,000 years this is going to be a great tour...

A rare "normal" wake-up and a leisurely breakfast. The hotel in Vientiane is French run and very pleasant. Our flight is not until 1:40pm so we had time to walk around town a bit. Walked down to what was the Morning Market but it has been eclipsed by multi-storey malls on either side and looks ready to be demolished. All the silver and jewellery stalls have moved into the slick new buildings but still sell the same stuff they sold 20 years ago. The big difference...