The bus ride to Vientiane was one of the worst we have had. The road was sooo bumpy that at times we left our seats and it felt like we were flying through the air. I turned around at one point to talk to Saskya as we hit a bump and the next thing she was half a metre in the air.

As we made our way into Vientiane the buildings were a lot more modern as were the shops and a lot of car garages. We did a bit of sight seeing before we went to our accommodation. As Vientiane is the capital of Laos it houses all the presidential buildings and palaces. We visited a big temple with a giant sleeping Buddha (Tuesday Buddha) as well as visiting the grand monument in the centre of the capital.

We also stopped at the COPE centre, at first it looked like we were pulling into a hospital but it was explained to us that this hospital helps people who have become disabled from the Vietnam war or the after effects of the war. We entered the museum which had a lot of different prosthetics and the story of what the charity is trying to achieve. We were then taken into a room where we watched a video. The video started by showing a young man and his family and explained that he had been lighting a fire and the heat of the fire had set off a hidden bomb which had caused him to have severe injuries to his leg and arms and go blind. The video also explained that when the American soldiers could not deploy their bombs on Vietnam they would not want to land back at their base with a plane full of bombs as it was too dangerous so get would drop them on Laos. They describe it as the war the was never declared and approximate that 30% of the bombs never blew so they still lie in the farm land of Laos undiscovered until someone sets one off by accident. There is a volunteer company that employs and trains Laos nationals to detect the hidden bombs and safety detonate them but the video explained the they cannot keep up with the demand. It was a very sad video as the people in Laos have to farm in order to feed their families so every time they step onto the land there is a risk they may walk across a bomb. There was a young boy in the centre who had lost both his arms and was blind. He spoke to Francesca and Ryan (an American couple on the tour) and was joking with them which was nice to see. He spoke fluent english and had been using a laptop whilst we were in there that the donations help to pay for. It was definitely an eye opener and a part of Laos's history I was completely unaware of.

We decided not to stay at the accommodation stray had offered us as it was a lot more expensive so we did a quick search when we arrived and booked into a guest house around the corner. We went for an Indian meal and wondered around the night market. The market wasn't as good as others, it was mainly clothes that I think the Laos people go to buy like we would at a shopping centre.

So that was my quick trip to the capital of Laos. I only have minimum time to complete my pass so I pretty much move to a new town everyday and with that comes a lot of early starts.