Vientiane, Laos

Wow. This must be the most laid back city I've ever visited. You have to slap yourself as a reminder that this is a city. I found an oddly-named hostel called DouangDeuane2 and got a room for 40,000 kip per night (10,000 kip cheaper than the place next door). The room was bright and airy and empty! I had the 4 bed dorm to myself apart from the very last night when 3 others checked in. I relaxed straight into the vibe and didn't do much at all, so this might be a short post you'll be glad to hear! I certainly spent a lot of time in the room, or cafe's, catching up with this diary and uploading as the wi-fi was excellent. There's a lot of money here (the complete opposite of rural Laos) - the locals drive around in posh cars, the kids ride posh bikes, posh dogs are paraded along the riverside and keep-fitters don their posh lycra for evening workouts. The French influence is everywhere so coffee shops, baguette stalls and bakeries are in abundance.

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Saucise the dog with owner Ake

I randomly bumped into a couple I met in India so spend a nice few days sitting about, drinking a beer or two, playing some pool and munching some delicious noodles or larb, or a strange stretched chicken on a stick, with sticky rice. We took a bumpy bus journey 25km along the border to the Xleng Khuan Buddhist sculpture park. Built by Luang Pu in 1958 it's a completely fascinating place, combining Hindu and Buddhist figures. As you walk in there's a giant concrete ball; you enter it through a demons mouth into hell where there's hundreds of small odd (and mostly broken) sculptures depicting such a place. You then climb up some steep blocks to earth then up again to heaven; the last level is a small opening onto the roof for a great view over the park.

View of the park from the top of the ball 

The ball

Hindu deities on the side of the ball

Vishnu isn't going to be happy!

120m reclining Buddha! Too big to take a complete picture of!

I hired a bike one day, a "turbo fairy", and cruised around the city like the locals do (wrong way up roads, on pavements, crossing red lights). I visited the beautifully maintained Hophrake temple that used to house the emerald Buddha (which is actually jade) until the Thai's stole it (back?). I then cycle over to Patuxai (victory arch) which was built to commemorate the people that died in the struggle to gain independence from France. I went to the post office and posted a parcel of goodies home then I cycled as far as I could along the Mekong up the Laos / Thai border before the ridiculous heat got to me and I retreated back to the  room!

Cruising

Creative graffiti

Arch of Triumph

Hophrake

My wheels!

Mighty Mekong - Thailand on the other side

You can view all of my pictures here