Lao-Paris Hotel Vientiane

... the middle of a huge thunder storm. We had to wade from the bus with our bags to the bus terminal through ankle deep water. When we got there we were immediately pounced upon by a tuk tuk driver asking if we wanted a ride into the centre. We said no as we hadn’t booked a hostel and didn’t fancy searching for one in the rain at 3am. Something amazing happened, the driver not only accepted our answer, he also helpfully pointed out the ...

... and head out of the city but we had a problem. In order to rent a motorbike you have to leave your passport but ours was in the embassy. It took a while but we eventually persuaded the guesthouse to rent it out without it. We then headed out of the city to a place called Buddha Park. This place is a weird collection crossed buddiest and Hindu statues. There was hundreds of them including this one that ...

... also walked to a spa near a Wat (temple). It turned out to be a steam room infused with herbs in a rickety treehouse. Thankfully, they hadn't set it up until we arrived, so it took a while to get too hot, but once it got after 15 minutes, it became unbearable so we all quit and got a tuk tuk home after looking round the Wat. So, I can see why people don't like spending time here, but it was a nice break for me in relative comfort!

... the "tourist attractions" are or at least what lonely planet says. We had a couple long days at work this week, but that is no excuse for my laziness and for not going to any place other than the mini mart. The mini mart is pretty nice though, especially since they will cash my baht and give me kip in change. The woman who works at the counter speaks pretty good English and she had to walk me through getting my sim card and loading my minutes. Talk about me looking ...

As soon as I made it to Vientiane, I found a guest house, left my bag, took a nice breakfast and jumped into a "took took" (motorbike with 3 wheels) to get Charlie, my brother, at the airport.

Then we rented a motorbike, visited a few pagodas and finished the day with a nice massage, herbal sauna and green tea in a little forest north of the city ...

Or nice Mongolians and nasty Russians!

Vientiance is the capital of Laos but its not really like a capital city - its pretty small. We spent half our time here trying rushing around in tuc-tucs to get various visas. The Russians dont want to make life easy for the Brits (French are ok) but this week's award for being nice goes to the lovely lady at the Mongolian embassy who did our visas in 10 mins for us on a Saturday!!

Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep natsandfrancois

... rate, I've cancelled my return flight for May 12. There's just too much to see and too much ground to cover. I've been travelling with a fairly consistent rotation of 2 German dudes, an Israeli guy and an English guy. All good people, but I'm giving some thought to going solo for awhile. It's nice to have company and it's easier to travel with people, but it's also important to have alone time. I'm finding ...

... our flower garlands here, it had balloons for sale, lots of food for sale - sticky rice grilled on a stick, corn fritters, donuts, banana chips, meatballs, kebabs... We basically just walked in and out to see what was going on there. We were doused with water before 10 am. We went to the morning market looking for a place to get a cash advance, but nothing is open. Behind the market is the main bus station. We found a place to ...

... 7873;u người Việt, người Tàu với đủ chiêu làm ăn, nói thách, bực tức khi có người mở hàng không mua.

Chính phủ Lào cũng dự định trong 10 năm tới mở rộng nhập cư, để người Tàu, người Việt vào làm ăn, tăng gấp đôi dân số Lào so với hi ...

... history of Laos and been depressed by the seeming wickedness and insensitivity of mankind: the 'overspill' of the Vietnam war and the widescale bombings.But at least I had thought it was in the past. Over the last ten days I feel as though I've had my eyes opened to another kind of assault on Laos and its peoples - by outside appearances a much less harmful one as the abominable Secret War, but potentially one with the capacity to do a whole different kind of damage.

Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep jasonhep