Laziness had kicked in big time. Maybe Vientiane's lazy reputation had rubbed off on us or maybe that was just a convenient excuse for us to put our feet up and do nothing in this quiet capital city. Forget any of this try new things nonsense, let's just take it easy we thought. Pre-Vietnam we had a total of four days to kill in Vientiane and many had warned us that the city had nothing much to offer.

They were wrong. On the surface the city looks simple. There are no high rise buildings or shopping malls that come close to those showcased in other Asian cities and there is a distinct lack of flashy temples enticing you in from the street.

To appreciate this city we had to look a little deeper. The first two days were spent drinking some of the best fruit shakes we'd ever had at Noy's Fruit Heaven cafe, sampling delicious pizzas and homemade dark chocolate brownies at Via Via Italian restaurant and enjoying the local food at Lao kitchen.

It was during an evening stroll at the riverside night market that we finally snapped out of this gluttonous form of travelling. As we wondered up the promenade with our stomachs filled with beer (Charan didn't drink any beer) we came across a buzz of activity in the local park. It was a mammoth session of street aerobics run on such epic proportions that we had to rub our eyes to make sure we weren't seeing double the people there actually were. The old, young, curvy and muscular danced in perfect synchronicity as two pumped up trainers belted out instructions to assist the crowd. Any flaws in this dance were hidden in the sheer number of participants jumping, crouching and hopping to the music.

Now this is what you call community spirit. A collective of individuals devoid of the common insecurities of public embarrassment we find in our society. They were fully absorbed in the task at hand, dancing with a freedom only observed in alcohol fuelled clubs at home. The energy was infectious causing me to dance foolishly on the side whilst Chris and Charan watched me, amused by my lack of coordination. Eventually even Chris shrugged aside his reservations to try a few moves. Charan however stood firm, unmoved by this tidal wave of energy, just watching and appreciating the sight.

Inspired into action on day three, we hired bicycles and headed for the COPE (Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise) centre. This exhibition is one of the most powerful and evocative places I have visited. Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world. The American army blitzed this country during the Vietnam war in an attempt to cut off supply lines for the Viet Cong fighters of Vietnam who used the mountainous jungles of Laos as cover. As a result an estimated 260 million sub-munitions (bombies) from cluster bombs were dropped over Laos between 1964 and 1973. With an estimated 30% failure rate, approximately 8 million of sub-munitions are thought to have failed to explode.

The result is that 20,000 people have been killed or injured during the post-conflict era between 1973 to 2008 with roughly 300 more casualties each year until the present day. Roughly 50% of those impacted are children many of whom play, collect scrap metal or work in the fields before accidentally triggering a unexploded cluster (termed unexploded ordinance or UXO) bomb.

Reading and hearing the stories of those impacted by such incidences until the present day really highlighted the terrible legacies that warfare leaves behind. The forgotten story as the world moves on. Travelling was getting deep as beyond the beautiful landscape and the smiles of those we meet in the tourism industry we realised that the country is going through a deeper struggle that we were only just beginning to comprehend. A teary eyed Charan diligently explored the exhibition as she got her first glimpse of the murky world of global politics.

The work of COPE in providing support for those injured is admirable. Their rehabilitation work and efforts in building the clinical capacity of the country has helped countless people to benefit from prothetic limbs and the necessary psychological support needed to deal with such an event. We left this place sobered by what has taken place but encouraged by the progress being made to overcome the terrible impact of the past.

To find out more please follow this link:

http://www.copelaos.org/about.php

The rest of the day was spent cycling in the glorious sun as we visited the Patuxai (meaning victory gate) war monument. This resembles the Arc de Triumph of France but was built to remember those who fought in the independence struggle against France. Haha...the irony. To top this off, the structure was built using American funds and cement which were provided to build a new airport. Thus the nickname...the vertical runway. I didn't realise the Laotian people had such a great sense of humour!

We rounded off the day by visiting Pha That Luang. This great golden Buddhist stupa is the Laotian national symbol and features on the local currency (kip). Thought to have been initially constructed during the 3rd century b.c. this great golden monument looked stunning against the clear blue sky. A great piece of architecture which is significantly understated in its graphic form on the faded kip currency we had been using throughout our journey.

Laos proved to be a country which charmed us until the very end. As I take away a snapshot of this wonderful place, I feel privileged to have been able to explore this wonderful country at this stage of its evolution.

Next....bring on Vietnam!