The journey across the border was probably the most difficult we have had yet - not because they didn't want gringos in the country but the bueacracy and forms we had to fill out were immense. We must have had to queue at least 4 times; once to get the form needed and then back into the same queue to have it processed. Eventually we made it across to be bombarded by the usual - tuktuk sir, taxi sir - the funny thing is they would ask Chris and if he said no then they would ask Carol. I guess they think it is worth a try. Laos has a turbulent past; being ransacked by most of it's SE Asian neighbours over the years, colonial rule under the French, it's role in the Vietnam war and the Communist takeover in 1975. Even today, there is a gueruilla movement, and the bus station in Vientiene was bombed in 2002. In the last 18 months this has escalated, with shootings of buses on Route 13 in which 25 people have died. Large parts of the country are still designated as 'special zones' in which foreigners are not allowed to travel. As if to make things worse, there are huge tracts of the countryside which are still littered with unexploded bombs and landmines from the Vietnam war. In fact, per capita, Laos is the most bombed country in the history of war. So needless to say, we are being careful! Vientiane is the capital of Laos and resides just 15 miles across the border from Thailand. A 30 minute tuktuk ride, during which we had to dodge potholes, evade trucks and got lungfulls of acrid smoke from the old cars - eventually we arrived at our hotel.The Capital seems like quite a small place and is certainly under development - there are lots of roads being built at the moment and many new buildings going up. Fifteen percent of Laos GDP though still comes from foreign aid. With Laos as part of French colonial Indochina, there still exists a French influence here. Some of the older buildings look like they would fit right into some run down places in Paris and there is no shortage of wine cellars selling French wine and heaps of French restaurants. Whilst this is a communist country there are obviously some people who are more equal than others as we have seen more Mercedes here per capita than any of the neighbouring asian countries and the president lives in a huge palace at the end of an avenue obviously styled on the Champs Elysee. Facing the palace is the Patuxai, a close replica of the L'Arc de Triomphe, with Buddhist and Asian influences in the styling. Started in 1962 to commemorate Laos' freedom, it was never completely finished due to the turbulent history since. It is reputed that the concrete used was donated by the US to build a runway at the airport. Whilst here, we've been visiting the usual collection of Buddhist temples including the oldest one in Vientiene, although these were not as grand as the ones in Thailand. In a country with such a violent past, we decided to embrace it a little and took off to the shooting range in the centre of town. Armed with Russian made .22 calibre weapons, we had great fun shooting the hell out of our targets. Carol had a bit of beginners luck, hitting the target everytime (from 36ft) but faded a little towards the end. Lara Croft watch out!! Chris was looking for a career in the SAS with all his shots hitting the high scoring zones or as he put it 'got em all in the chest'. There were a couple of bombs shells in the corner, but we decided we weren't ready for them yet! After our short visit here, we are heading north east to Vang Viang, along Route 13!!