Chanthapanya Hotel Vientiane

... have been in it's time.<br><br>So here I am in Vientiane. I've splashed out a bit and got myself a pretty nice room for a couple of nights. I really need to wash my hair and I hate to do it in cold water so I got myself a nice guesthouse but it still is only costing me just over $10 a night. For a capital city this place is pretty quiet and it's easy to walk around. There are quite a few tourists here but none of the hassle (as mentioned earlier ...

... a couple of bicycles to explore the city, which we highly recommend - the traffic is so quiet it is a great way to just float around the city from temple to cafe. We set out North to see Laos' most important national monument - That Luang - set in a park with other temples just next to the National Assembly and Vientiane's own commie-style huge concrete square. Having worked up a sweat we repaired to the closest cafe ...

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... con, despite the passengers having paid extra for it. But we got here safe and sound, and today had a pretty brilliant day. Woke up early to a dark but very comfortable room that we had chosen in the middle of Laos chinatown. Decided to completely blast every one of the tourist attractions in the city. So today we went to 2 museums, 2 temples and one Arc de Triomphe type structure. This town is very much influenced by French coloniasts, so it makes a ...

... a split in the trail and I was lucky enough to discover the right trail after the group was going crazy as to where the trail leads.<br><br>That put me in first place by a good 50 yards. I could see the hotel next to where we met up for the race, which is where the race ended. I had solid dirt beneath my feet and it was still light enough to see the terrain. So I turned it up a notch. This put me way out front, probably 150 yards. I had been running wide open for the last 5 minutes and I ...

... towards, right now my vision is too broad. <br><br> I was walking along the Mekong yesterday after I had finally typed up my time log for school and done some reading for VFI. It is so much hotter here than in Chiang Mai, maybe there is just not as much tree cover along the river. I learned this week that the government in Vientiane is working on tearing down all the shops, riverside eateries and little food stands along the Mekong river. They want to bulldoze the ...

... in the early morning, I was determined to stay in a nice, air-con room, but all the places were way too expensive. I was pretty happy with myself though, because I ended up talking to a tuk tuk driver and I asked him if he knew anyplaces for cheap, and like everyone in south east asia, he had a friend who owned a guesthouse and was having trouble filling rooms. After haggling with him for a while, I got him to walk with me to the guesthouse and talk down the price ...

... br><br><br> The next morning I headed off for the Friendship Bridge which is the border crossing between Thailand and Laos near Vientiene. This was the mellowest border crossing I have ever experienced with relaxed and helpful officials and no tourists. A shuttle brings you across the bridge and back to Thailand and driving on the left.