As Vang Vieng wasn't quite what we'd hoped for, we left a day early. It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision so we arrived at the bus terminal just after one bus had left, with the other leaving 3 hours later. There were sawngthaews (converted pick-up trucks with wooden benches in the back for seats) leaving every half an hour which apparently took the same time to get there so we made possibly one of our most rash decisions to date and caught one of them. For the first hour or so we both immediately regretted our decision, as we were very cramped, travelling at 20km/h and stopping every 5 mins. Things got a bit better as we picked up some speed, and it actually made for quite a comfortable journey (well, as much as the bus would have been) and arrived in good time.

As Vientiene is the capital city and we were arriving from somewhere we hadnt liked, I think we both had quite high hopes. The city itself was okay, but not nearly so architechturally atractive as Luang Prabang. The accommodation was the real downside. We wandered around for about 2 hours looking at run-down, dirty and comparatively expensive guesthouses that we couldnt stay in for fear of catching something. We eventually bit the bullet and checked into a hotel at $24 per night (!), but even that wasnt much better. As accommodation was so much more expensive than we had anticipated, we decided to stay for only 2 nights instead of the planned 4.

During our stay we took a bus to Xieng Khuan, a Buddha park on the outskirts of the city. It was quite a strange place, filled with a random collection of Buddhist and Hindu statues taking up (what seemed to us to be) quite untraditional poses. The main section was a large open-mouthed face which you could walk into. Inside there was a building filled with twisting paths and statues, which were quite eery in the dim light. The park was good fun to walk around, but it definately wasn't a serious religous site by any means.

In the evening we went ten pin bowling!!! It was such a strange experience for us to walk in from the busy lao streets to somewhere that felt quite familiar. The bowling centre was pretty retro, and reminded me a lot of going bowling in Arbroath when Ï was little. Needless to say, Ben beat me twice but it was so much fun I didnt mind. It was quite amusing watching the locals bowling. One guy in particular had a very unique style... he looked so professional and poised as he took his run-up, but as soon as he reached the line he just let go of the ball and it flew upwars in an arch until landing full force on the alleyway with a loud thump! If this wasnt funny enough to watch already, he undertook the whole precedure wearing dark sunglasses even though it was already pretty dark inside.

-S