Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep Travel Blogs

Laos, Buses and Vientiane
Mar 2, 2006 (15 photos)

... and wildlife volunteering, sorry! So another day another bus and this was another record topper for bad. When booking the bus to Laos (Lao depending on where you look) we decided to pay the extra $5 for the better bus (as it's a 22 hour journey). We ...

Motorbikes, santa and plans for NYE
Dec 29, 2008 (54 photos)

... could even stretch out as much as i wanted and we hugged up and slept as the bus headed north to the capital city of Vientiane. We arrived at 6:00 am on Christmas morning, and as has become a bit of a routine i opted to stay with the bags while ...

Don Det to Vientiane - feeling very chilled out
Oct 15, 2007 (11 photos)

... a newt. It was very interesting though. And random. At the park we did get our first sight of Thailand though as Vientiane is literally across the river from Thailand. We saw Friendship Pass bridge and customs to cross it. Very exciting to know this ...

Secret Laos - with the Imaginative Traveller
May 7, 2004 (16 photos)

... do but lie back and get sunburnt, interspersed with brief moments of mad panic as we hit the rapids. C... We are now in Vientiane, the capital of Laos and it is certainly a lot livelier, and a bit of a shock to be amongst traffic again other ...

You Lazy Laos
Jan 25, 2005 (5 photos)

... "S" to the end and it stuck. It is still not the correct name of this country as you can see from its complete title, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic. I knew that we could get one at the border at immigration but the woman I was with didn't have a photo ...

Vientiane
Jul 31, 2008 (9 photos)

... meant on him. People were getting a bit scared of this guy. Angie was freaking out. We made it down to Vientiane without incident. Arriving in the evening, there were lots of backpackers hunting around for cheap accomadation and alot of places were full ...

Here a bhudda there a bhudda
May 11, 2009 (45 photos)

Hey there, We ended up not staying the night in Pakse because the only buses we could get to Vientiene were night buses and we really didn't want to spend another full day there because it's not that interesting. This was a pain because we'd already ...

The Road to Hell!
Apr 18, 2004 (4 photos)

... based on the Champs Elysee with its own Arc de Triumphe at the top. We found a cheap internet place and checked our emails. Vientiane has been the only place worth logging on as it is a lot cheaper and faster than elsewhere in Laos. We stayed on for ...

The City
Feb 2, 2007 (9 photos)

... trying to replace decaying grandeur with tasteful modernity, and it seems to be working.  I have impeccable timing.  So Vientiane, like many cities I visit, should be quite nice in 6 months.  There's not much to do in Vientiane.  ...

Brief stop in Vientiane
Mar 15, 2006 (4 photos)

... earn approx $1 a day). We get our flight with Lao Airlines first thing which stops first at Pakse in the south of Lao and then Vientiane. We were toing and froing about whether to spend time in Vientiane but the flight we got gives us about 3/4 hours ...

From Mao to Lao
Dec 5, 2003 (6 photos)

... Phousy Hill were other highlights... oh and Indian curry and other street market food! We got the express bus (10 hours) to Vientiane (the capital) and the road between LP and Vang Vieng was stupendous a bit like Guilin. Vientaine is more like a country ...

Vientiane
Dec 18, 2005 (11 photos)

... a small group is around 15-30 people! Then there was Vang Vieng and I don't need to start on that one again. Now Vientiane, a city, the Capital. A city that isn't without its own charms but at the same time doesn't over inspire you, by the end of ...

Ride to the Capital
Feb 1, 2007

... more expensive than Thailand.  Food, rooms, tuk-tuks, buses and boats are all expensive.  So we took a local bus to Vientiane.  The road was straighter than any other we had been on in Laos and the ride was fine.  We rolled into town ...

We have been a-Lao-ed into our next country!!
Aug 27, 2008 (8 photos)

... this just after take-off...... When w got out the airport in Laos, we jumped into a Tuk Tuk and headed to the Dragon Lodge in Vientiane. Adam, who was with us in Vietnam, said he had stopped here and it was OK. The place was a little shabby, but all in ...

Monk a polooza
Nov 10, 2003 (12 photos)

... go BeerLao tubing we laid in hammocks drinking BeerLao. Ah yes, the trials and tribulations of international travel. Then on to Vientiane, the capital city. This was possibly the best trip we have made between cities since we left home, as our mode ...

There And Back Again
Jul 11, 2006 (4 photos)

... on the Laos side we only had a few hours before we had to head back so took the touristy option of a tuk tuk tour of Vientiane even if we did only have time to see a couple of the sights. Pen coming from Issan could also speak fluent Lao though meaning ...

Zen and the art of Motorcycle ignorance.
Apr 9, 2005 (17 photos)

... we had communicated chicken and pork via embarrsing sign language and clucking and grunting noises did we discover the owner not only spoke Lao (which is a really difficult language to get to grips with as it is all tonal) he also spoke French! It would ...

Day 68
Nov 21, 2006 (11 photos)

... now so I packed my bags and left some money to cover my share of the room. I'd read about a little architectural walking tour of Vientiane so I thought if there was anything I was going to do here at all then this would be it. It was only 9am but the heat ...

Madame Sassypants in the Capitol
Jan 5, 2006 (11 photos)

... other travel-weary, pleasure-seeking hedonists. Sometimes you just need to indulge a little bit as I decided to do here in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Over a cup of herbal tea, I joked with the large and friendly Lao manager woman of the joint: ...

Happy Birthday to Me!
Dec 6, 2005 (3 photos)

... we caught a tuk tuk to the airport for our Lao Air flight to the capital, Vientiene. We were a little skeptical of flying on Lao Air as we had heard some stories but it was actually a really good flight. It only take 30 mins to fly to the capital from ...

Chapter 38: Metro Laos
May 11, 2004 (25 photos)

... Arc de Triomphe. Except that it's filled with junky souvenir shops and only offers a look out over the nonexistent Vientiane skyline. Monday started similarly to Sunday, but instead of spilling coffee I dropped our toilet paper roll in the toilet. ...

Raining in Laos
Feb 4, 2008 (33 photos)

... rescue. Unbelievably he just shouted "swim over there" and went off to save his precious paddle. Its unbelievable to think that Vientiane is actually a capital city. We walked around it twice in half an hour but could only find expensive (30$) ...

Mellowing Out
Dec 14, 2007 (9 photos)

... took a cheap domestic flight to Udon Thani, very near to the Laos border. From here we planned to go overland into Vientiane. Udon Thani itself wasn't very inspiring.  There wasn't much to see, expensive food, and cheesy bars.   Frank ...

We'll always have Paris... in Laos
Sep 9, 2007 (9 photos)

... and I were disillusioned by the fact that the NGO's are located in the most expensive buildings in the very trendy parts of Vientiane.  World Vision, UNICEF and UN organizations all display their brand new, top of the line, 4 by 4 trucks ( ...

Not quite what I expected
Sep 11, 2005 (7 photos)

... , considering that it's just on the other side of the Mekong River, not 500m away! Then I thought, what makes Vientiane uniquely Lao? In my 18 hours in the country, I'd seen French, Soviet, Chinese and Thai influences everywhere, but nothing original, ...

Living it up in Laos
Dec 22, 2003 (4 photos)

... as the Land of a Million Irrelevants, but we like to call it the land of a million temples. Our time in Vientiane was spent viewing the various wats, including the most important in Laos, the Great Sacred Stupa (Pha That Luang). From Vientiane we took ...

Walking around the nations capital - very quiet!
Aug 28, 2008 (26 photos)

... only 4 minutes left was a bit frustrating. Ah well, concentrate on the league and the FA Cup!! Today we went for a walk around Vientiane. Like I mentioned in the previous blog, there's not much to see but we will do our best. First place we went to was ...

The Wolves do Christmas
Dec 29, 2008 (6 photos)

... and drinking Lao Lao whiskey... so all in all it was a thoroughly wonderful Christmas :) We didn't do much else in Vientiane... we visited a Wat that has hut next to it with a herbal sauna and sweated out some of Christmas, followed by an ...

Vientiane - Day 91-92
May 24, 2008

... and we're motoring, we're really late and in danger of missing the bus hence the quick pace through the streets of Vientiane. Travelling on a scooter at 40mph without a helmet is not recommended especially when you have a severe eye infection. The wind in ...

Not a lot to do
Nov 20, 2005 (1 photos)

... to go bowling. I sucked again but it was great fun. If you hit a strike when the red pin was at the front you got a free beer Lao! Well that was a challenge and only Dave managed to do it. After a few games we decided it was late enough (about 2am) and we ...