Vientiane Guest Houses - Reviews and Rates

Just about ready to head to the airport for my afternoon flight to Hanoi. I am not quite sure what to expect so I am glad that I am taking the flight that gets me in with a few hours of daylight left so I can get my barings. The Lonely Planet's SE Asia guide that I have been lugging around has been of limited value. And given the condition of th...

The previous night's bus ride left me exhausted so after a walk around the town in the mid afternoon heat, I stripped off my sweat soaked clothes, laid on my box spring (No mattress here) and slept hard under the cooling wall fan. I woke up in a daze a couple of hours later and once I got my bearings, I realized that I had nothing to do. Vientia...

By Mette Laos er et af de fattigste lande i verden. Det betyder bl.a., at der er rigtig mange projekter og NGO'ere i gang. Mens vi var der, fik vi fat på nogle engelsk-sprogede aviser med stillingsannoncer i. Her var de fleste annoncer nogle, der handlede om udviklingsarbejde af forskellig slags. I rigtig mange af annoncerne stod der på forhånd ...

The first thing I do in the morning is to go get a new pair of sunglasses for 40,000 kip. I'll need it on the river today. I get picked up at 09:30 by a truck. There are already 10 people on board, 4 Canadian guys, 2 Canadian girls and 4 Swedish guys. We drive for about an hour and a half before we reach the river that we will be kayaking on. An...

Vientiane's so bizarre! It's the capital city and yet feels like we're in some bundu village. There's ************e around and not that much to see. Ironically the country considers itself as one of the "big boys" - today's national paper headlines read "Laos calls for Gaza ceasefire"! Hamas militants must be wondering if there's a separate grou...

Arrived in Laos after 22 hours on a bus. Journey started with an emergency motorbike taxi race through Hanoi. Steve and Craig's passports were late back from the embassy and we almost missed our bus. Had to get motorbike to the bus, because a car wouldn't get through the insane traffic quick enough. Squashed on bike with backpack. Already late a...

It has been a little while since we've updated the blog but there are good reasons. Reason #1- My distaste for wood has prevented me from using a computer as most internet cafes have wooden seats and the computer is on some sort of wooden desk.(I really hate wood) Reason#2- After arriving at Luang Prabang we had a lot of sight seeing to do. We v...

This morning, as we were leaving the guesthouse, we saw a row of monks walking pass all the houses in the street and collecting sticky rice and other food - from mainly women. This practice is quite famous in Luang Prabang, and in the main tourist area it has become another tourist attraction, in which foreigners are allowed to participate, but ...

A Tuk Tuk shuffles us across the old gravel landing strip, and we're on the bus to Vientiane. This one doesn't have designated seating, and they've managed to overbook it. No problem to the Lao folk, who put plastic chairs down the aisle and plonk on some more falang to take up the challenge. Not exactly top quality safety..... The bus ride to t...

I am leaving on the 2 p.m. bus for the 3 hour ride to Vang Vieng. I have come to understand and appreciate Vientiane in the 3 days I have been here as I cannot believe the progress they are making, in this heat, in tearing up old cement sidewalks and making new brick ones, in repaving roads etc. You can tell that tourism money is enabling them t...