Part 4 of the big catch up - Vientiane, Laos.

Well after our lovely breakfast we still had an enjoyable 5 hours in the coach to Vientiane, described in the rough guide as south east asia's most sleepy capital. Except if you arrive a few days before the full moon festival!

We hadn't booked anywhere to stay as you couldn't (internet presence is limitted here - weird as everywhere offers free wifi). So we had a few places circled in the book and after been turned away from three we found somewhere to stay.

Vientiane was definitely a step down from Hanoi - its tiny (We saw big posters advertising their first mall opening 2013). And despite the increased number of people still pretty laid back.

We spent what was left of our afternoon wandering around the streets near the river which were covered in market stalls and sea side amusements. It got so busy they closed the roads to traffic for a few hours, but it was really good to sea everyone young and old having fun.

That's where we saw about 40 people all paddling the giant dragon boat in the picture.

That night we went back to the hostel and used the internet until they turned it off at 11pm before crashing out.

The next day we decided to go caching, there are only two in Laos so we thought it was best to get it out of the way. We walked towards it and it was HOT!!! Even in the shade its roasting, so although it was only a mile from where we were staying it took us a while to get to.

Now we have taken a liking to iced honey lemon tea and out here it is cheaper than beer, so we found a stall selling iced green tea and thought we'd give it a go - DON'T, never ever, it tastes awful, yuck!

After we found the cache we realised we had walked quite a way across town and could see in the distance the golden stupa/temple that is there national icon. It didn't look too far, so we decided to carry on to it. Wow, half a mile can take for ever in 30+ degrees. We finally got there and found some shade, it was pretty impressive and we sat and watched as groups arrived, bought incense and offerings and then walked around the stupa before placing it on an alter. All I could think about though was Mike Myers playing Goldmember - completly ruined the point but did make us laugh.

On the way back we visited the freedom/victory tower - modelled on the arc de triumph it had some pretty impressive views of the city, so really good for photos, I was amazed at how low the buildings were (none were over 6 stories) and how colonial a look the place had.

Finally we made it back to the hotel and had a much needed shower - I am going through clothes at a horrendous rate here. That night we once again joined the party and stood watching people through darts at ballons (still not 100% sure how you won), cooking anything on a stick (the city smells like bbq 24/7) and watching a local band switching between songs I don't understand and american county and western covers.

That night we skyped the parents, weirdly they were swapping dog at that time so my parents were at Claire's parents house - how weird a coincidence is that?

Next morning we boarded another bus (god I wish they had trains) to Vang Vieng - the Costa Brava of Laos.

Mr P