Phornthip Guesthouse Vientiane

... herum, keiner weiß woher, warum. Vielleicht waren es Urnen… doch wer hat diese riesigen Krüge dorthin geschleppt? Diese Gegend haben wir mit dem Motorrad (eher eine Art Roller) unsicher gemacht und weite Teile erinnerten an den wilden Westen Nordamerikas…

Mittlerweile war unsere „Reisegruppe" auf sieben fahrsüchtige und lustige Abenteurer angestiegen. Und so ging es gemeinsam fünf Tage auf eine Rundtour durch Berge, Täler, über Flüsse, über perfekt geschlungene ...

... streets and there was a lot of traffic. The fact that O was the leader of our little pack but she can't use hand-signals ("I will fall off my bike if I try!") made navigating intersections interesting because we didn't have any warning when a turn was coming. She also liked riding the wrong way down one-way streets. I let O know that I would be a little more comfortable riding the correct direction and she happily obliged. We stopped for lunch at Walls - a ...

... soon.

Anyway, rant over... we transferred our bags to Mixay, then as it was only 10am left them there while we went for breakfast at a nice French cafe over the road. After this we decided to do a bit of sightseeing, so we headed off to the south end of Lane Xang Avenue, reputedly modelled on the Champs Elysees in Paris. After wandering north up the street for ten minutes I can safely say that it is nothing like the glamorous ...

... de 3 heures cette fois ci

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We didn't want to spend too much time in Vang Vieng like you would have understand it, we left the morning for Vientiane and cut the trip halfway with a 2 hours kayak with Lao BBQ lunch on a rock !

... and look at panoramic view of the city below. You can see most of the city from up there as Vientiane is very small place. As you ascend down from the top there are 2-3 floors of small market stalls that your able to buy small gifts, T-shirts etc. On the same day we also went to the main Wat (temple) that is situated not far from the Patuxai. Before entering you have to pay a small fee. The sign on the the gate had 2 entrance fee amounts. 1 for Laos people and 1 for ...

... 50 something Aussie married-couple and our guide: a 22 year-old ex-Buddhist monk with a penchant for Western girls and alcohol) headed out into the countryside. We visited waterfalls and did a little trekking along the way. We made really good friends with the Aussies (who are Rangers back home, and we will hope to take up their kind invitation of hospitality when we head there in December) and the ex-Monk, who was happy to answer lots of questions about ...

... first glimpse of Thailand across the Mekong - another 2 weeks before we actually cross the border.

Today we walked 10km to and from the Pha That Luang stupa, a huge golden statue which is a symbol of Buddhism and Lao sovereignty. It is surrounded by more wats, inside of which are murals depicting the life of buddha - certainly more cheerful than the Christian murals in Albi cathedral. From the photos you can tell it's rainy season, it's grey, but ...

... 7901;i Viêng tự hào với giọng nói nhẹ nhàng, truyền cảm hơn.



Liệu anh Việt này có vớ phải "cá to" của Lào?

Người Lào cũng thích kể chuyện chơi chữ với người Việt. Có hai người bạn đi với nhau trên con đường mòn, anh người Lào bảo: con kh ...

On Wednesday we managed to get a bus from Ban Na Hin all the way to Vientiene where we had to take a tuk tuk to the city centre. Most places were full as there was a festival on but we found somewhere decent and headed off to the shops as Ollie wanted to look for trekking shoes.

We went to the post office and picked up the easter chocolates my mum had sent which were all melted (as she's warned me!) and scoffed ...

... was planned or not but my friend's dad speaks with a van driver and tells him what we would like to see while in Vientiane. While driving towards the city on the right side of the street I notice it is completely different on this side of the Mekong. It is much more impoverished in Laos. There are quite a few shanties but still some nice modern houses mixed in there.
Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep safety_first