Vientiane

We chose to not spent too much time in Vientiane the capital of Laos as we were advised that there wasn't much going on. I think the day and a half we spent there was just right. We managed to walk around the small city seeing the Presidential Palace, past the Cultural Hall, temples and the National Museum. We met up with Josh and he pointed us in the right direction for good food. A backpacker street filled with cafes, restaurants, hostels and guesthouses.

We walked around the night market and watched the sunset over the Mekong River, found the mall and strolled around the indoor market. Best of all we found the outdoor Laos National swimming pool and because our hostel was so rubbish (bugs in the shared shower, holes in the wall, noisy traffic coming through the celotaped shut door) it was a perfect way to exercise and have a shower.

We had some great food in Vientiane a restaurant with yummy stone baked pizzas and a chaotic run little cafe that had tasty handmade falafel wraps. we also went to a dinner and a show, where we sampled traditional Laos food, my favourite sticky rice in bamboo pot, chicken wings, minced chicken, vegetables, fish steamed in banana leaves, pork sausage we weren't keen on. The show was hilarious and quite random in places, a man pretending to be a bird using the noise from his mouth and acting out killing a pig. Mostly the show was beautiful girls dancing in traditional dress. The audience was 90% oriental and a large group bought their own pot noodles and left the food provided and half way through got up and left. For £10 each it was a fun night our bellies were full and we were entertained.

Vientiane was easy to get around and certain lanes had that laid back cafe culture vibe. It was nice to find some decent food but a lot of the placed seemed to be western owned.