Sabaidee from Laos!!

We arrived in Vientiane and immediately got a good feeling about the
place as despite walking around tired and with our bags on, we got a
sense of the French influence and couldn't wait to head out to explore. We duly did soon enough and after sorting out our Vietnam visa tucked in to some French baguettes before deciding on a siesta.

Belatedly we then got a tuk-tuk out to Pha That Luang which is a
national symbol, and then walked to Patuxai, the Lao version of
the Arc de Triomphe - funny how they themselves call it a concrete monster!

We felt quite content simply strolling down the 'Champs Elysee' and
then following our noses through town on our way back home.
Whilst there is nothing particularly amazing to see or do, it was
just nice and by the time we were tucking in to our first steak
since BA in a cool little French restaurante called La Terrasse, we
were more than happy!

In the evening, we did a spot of people watching and planning over a couple of Beer Lao's from a bar overlooking the Mekong River and then retired to bed in our slightly strange room which came complete with a Wild West style bathroom door.

On Wednesday morning we visited Wat Si Saket which had some
different features to the myriad other Wats that we have seen -
like hundreds of small buddhas set inside niches. We walked round
town for a bit (it really didn't take very long - it's so small for
a capital city!) and then had a tense hour and a half waiting for
our passports to come back with our visas, just about making it in
time to catch our 'VIP' bus up to Vang Vieng for some tubing action!

The bus journey was as has become standard over the past few weeks (ie. cramped, sweaty & uncomfortable), but the stunning natural landscape en route definately helped as we passed through small villages with a backdrop of jagged limestone karsts - and by the time the bus dropped us off we were pretty excited about the next few days!