From Vang Vieng we caught what we thought was a VIP bus through to Vientiane. We chose the VIP option as the roads in Laos tend to be a little on the rough and windy side, and it is nice to be comfortable with plush seats and air conditioning.
We headed to the bus stop / runway, and found our bus.
The bus itself wasn't quite VIP but was OK; it was completely overbooked that was the main worry - people were sitting on plastic stools in the aisle it was so full. All the luggage was stacked precariously on top of the bus, so it was fingers crossed that it didn't all shoot off around a particularly hairy corner! The air con also wasn't working, but to be honest we didn't mind that too much, as we had the windows open and had a chance to breathe in the fresh Laos air.
We arrived in Vientiane around 3 hours later. We found accommodation after another episode of walking-with-packs-in-the-heat. We got a basic room but clean and close to town.
Vientiane is Laos capital city and is a fairly busy, bustling place. It was colonised by the French and this is evident as you look around, for example the vast array of French bakeries that can be found. It is interesting, some of the people here use French greetings when you go to the restaurants.
Check out this awesome construction site - safety first as always! We see the safety first signs and laugh - its cost first here I'd wager. Hopefully those branches are regulation safety branches...
The most economic and easiest way to get around town is to hire bicycles. We were lazy and didn't do it, but here is an example above. Lots of other Falangs on them.
Laos coffee rules by the way! It is sweet and delicious, so we've both been drinking a fair bit of it since being here. The above photo was the start of Toolman trying to annoy Princess with the camera..
Princess trying to take a bad photo of Tim
Princess trying to take a bad photo of Tim
We are ashamed to admit we didn't do anything worth writing about here. We moved into a room that had a TV in it, and spent an afternoon watching movies. We ate at a few lovely restaurants, but didn't visit any of the sights at all. In our defense the weather was rather wet, but we just had no motivation to do anything!
We bumped into a few of our travel buddies whilst there, and it seems we were all in agreement that Vientiane was a little boring (sorry Vientiane!). It's a good place to get Visa's for other countries sorted out, and a good place to drink coffee, but those things aside it's just not very exciting. The French bakeries kind of make up for it though!
Our next leg was China, so we booked flights to Kunming in the south. We were flying with Laos Airlines, and were interested to see what the quality of the aircraft would be like!
We only spent just over a week in Laos which wasn't really long enough to get around all the sights. Unfortunately it began to dawn on us that we didn't actually have a lot of travel time left, and as we still had a couple of countries to visit we had to keep on moving.
Laos was a beautiful, relaxed country. The scenery is divine, and if you are an out-doorsy type it is well worth a visit. With white water rafting, tubing, caving, rock climbing etc it has a lot to keep you entertained! Life is different here compared with NZ, people very much live for the moment and seem to just enjoy each day as it comes. The rat race is likely unheard of here. People rely a lot on the land as you can see with the emerald green rice paddies that are everywhere. You often see, sticking out from these paddies, the pointed hats of those working in them. There is definitely a great deal of poverty here, but people generally seem happy and contented. It is refreshing to see people who don't need all the flashest gadgets to have a good and happy life.
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