Heya, today we arrived in Vientiane via sleeper bus!! When we got off we were surrounded by the locals trying to offer us a tuk tuk but we decided to walk and find a room instead. It was cool enough to walk as it was 8 am!! We found a guest house Trev stayed in before not to far from the bus station. Very basic but it has AC, bathroom and a bed so can't ask for more!!! We just had showers and went on a walking tour. It wasn't with a group or anything. We followed a map on one of our travel guides. We visited only a couple of places on it a it was getting so warm and wasn't a great time to be walking. We visited this lovely arch called Patuxai that the Americans had funded. They gave the people of Laos money to build a run way but the Laotions decided to build this monument Instead ( it is the cover photo to this entry ) it is now called the vertical runway by people here!! We could walk all the way up into it and view the whole city!! It was lovely.... Especially the breeze up there :-) Vientiane is a lot quieter to Khaosan rd but absolutely gorgeous.... Lots of French influence which is beautiful!! I appreciated the quieter city today as it can be a lot to take in in bangkok!!! We came back to the room after doing the walk as it was too hot to be out in and Trev had a bit of a head cold from the AC on the bus. We had a siesta :-) :-) This evening we went out and walked along through the markets and then went to a lively Laotion bar/ restaurant with a bit of live Laotion music!! It was a lovely atmosphere!! We had pad Thai with chicken and it was just gorgeous!!!i ate the whole thing with chopsticks... First time for everything!! Really enjoyed the music... Not that I understood a word of the songs ha!! We then went to a bar and tried the local beer... Ha, I know.. Me trying beer is strange but when in Rome!!! Came back to the hotel an hour or so ago as we have another bus tomorrow up to vang Vieng. It's only a couple of hours but I'm guessing there will be a a couple of crazy nights ahead as we are meeting up with one of trevs best friends!!!
Sara & Trev
Xxx