A Short Stop in Vientaine

After four nights of shenanigans in Vang Vieng it was time to head down south to the capital, Vientiane.  I doubt you have heard of the capital before; no biggie.  Well Vientiane is not big either - only a few hundred thousand in the city, maybe closer to 700,000 in the metro.  Our 8 man (and women) crew was due to split; the Welsh guys and English gals going on to Vietnam while Mike and I went to Cambodia.

Streets of Vientiane

Mike and I spent two nights there, the others only one.  The second evening they left for a lovely 22 hour bus ride to Hanoi!  At least they were supposed to have beds on board.  Computers and ipods can make the journey more bearable.  Popping a few sleeping pills certainly helps.

As for Mike and I, we were headed to the town of Siem Reap, Cambodia, near the famous Angkor Wat temple complex.  Mike's time was limited as he had a flight to catch in a week.  The bus option took two whole days travel!  Even with a stopover the plane journey was 3 hours.  Wanting to make the most of our time, we paid 185 dollars for the flight and saved ourselves the better part of two days in the process.

our Laos Airlines plane to Siem Reap

I'll put a post on Angkor Wat up next.  There isn't much to say about Vientiane.  Some travelers give it bad reviews, but I didn't mind the city.  But that's not to say I really enjoyed it either.  Our time there was just too short to make a solid assessment   Also it was hot as hell while we were there.  One day topped over 40 degrees - over 104 Fahrenheit with humidity.  Needless to say it was unbearable to walk around outside for more than a few minutes.  Nighttime was marginally better, and there are nice restaurants and bars near the Mekong River for relaxation.  The night market was also nice, but aside from that we really didn't get to see much in Vientiane.  Oh well, next time!

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