We arrived at the border at 8am after a luxury sleepr bus whereby we were even treated to the film Iron Man (not very good by the way!). After formalities were completed we jumped onto another bus which was not so nice for the final 30 mins or so journey to the capital.

We grabbed some breakfast with an Israeli guy (these guys are everywhere!!!) before locating a guest house. We had a wander around the area after this and just cannot believe how quiet this place is, its supposed to be a Capital city but after leaving Bangkok behind this place seems like a total ghost town. Really nice though and straight away I knew that I was deffinately going to enjoy my time in Laos. Went and had dinner that evening on a nice street type restaurant which had decking overlooking the Mekong River.

Next day we got a tuk-tuk to Pha That Luang which is an awesome looking temple which was very picturesque as were the surroundings. After this our driver dropped us at Patuxai which is Laos version of the 'Arc de Triumphe' in Paris. This place was much busier and yet still very peaceful as I was to find most of Laos to be. From the top of this you could see across Vientienne and you realise just how peaceful and small this city actually is compared to everwhere else in SE Asia I have been which is so populated and hectic. We grabbed a drink t a cafe and were interviewed here by some local students who were doing an English prject and had to interview Westerners to practice their English. Spent an hour or so chatting only to find that our tuk-tuk driver had lost patience and done a runner. One of the students then offered to give us a lift home so we walked across to the street where I exepected to find a scooter to take us back only for her to jump in the front of a brand spanking new Toyota Hi-Lux. This was a serious bit of kit especially given how poor a lot of people I have met in Asia are. Still sat in that A/C luxury vehicle who was I to question and off to the guest house we were chaueffer driven.

Went back to smae restaurant on river front that evening followed by some beers at a roof top bar. Had a bus ticket booked the next day for our four hour trip up to Vang Vieng home of the infamous Tubing in Laos.