We were picked up by our mini bus at 9am. Being the first to be onboard we chose seats at the front to be able to stretch our legs a bit. They filled up the bus over the next half an hour before setting off to the capital, Vientiane. The road was nowhere near as windy as the trip to Vang Vieng but it was just as rough. Crazy to think this is a national highway. After an hour & a half we had gone half way so stopped at a little cafe for a rest break. After 10 mins it was back on the bus for the final 64 k's which took another 1.5 hours. Arriving in the city it took a little while to find our accommodation. Eventually we found it & checked in. Awesome we were on the 5th floor. Not so awesome there was no lift. We climbed the stairs to our room which was windowless but at least it had a big a/c. It was sweltering outside so we stayed indoors until the sun set & hunger set in. We wandered out & had a bit of a look around the city. It is a very nothing city & lacks any character which we had heard a lot of people say. At least we were only here for 2 nights. We headed down to the night market on the banks of the Mekong for a look but we are pretty much marketed out. We returned to the fountain near our hotel which is lit up at night creating a beautiful spectacle. A band was playing live music so we found a restaurant near the fountain & settled in for a nice dinner. About 11pm we returned to the room, marking off the first night in this city.