After our tubing trip, we were eager to move on from Vang Vieng so we left early the next morning on another minibus journey, this time for 4 hours, to the Laos capital - Vientiane. This is the country's business capital so is limited in terms of what it can offer tourists. When we arrived, everything was still closed for new year and the locals were on their final, fifth day of partying and water fights. The city had turned into a noisy, wet mess and we really weren't up for joining in and drinking anymore. Instead, we found one of the few open restaurants, ran by Indians and had a cracking curry!

Our next few days in Vientiane were spent sight-seeing and sorting out another Thai visa - a long wait with a lot of other foreigners who were on a visa run from Thailand. Vientiane gets very, very hot in the afternoon at the moment. You can barely move due to the stifling heat. We kept seeking solace in air-condtioned cafes! Unfortunately, due to having to wait til the next day to collect our new visa, we ended up having three sweaty nights here. We left on our final day at 5pm to embark on an overnight bus ride back to Bangkok!