Mongkol Hotel Vientiane

... offices were open; I needed to book a flight to Siem Reap for two days' time. They were closed, but luckily there was a travel agent across the road who was very helpful. I managed to book the last available seat for the 6.30am flight I wanted, so was very pleased. This done, we headed back to the hostel, Mark taking a shower while I did some blogging. Mark returned surprisingly quickly; he’d been having a shower when all of a sudden the water had simply just stopped ...

... time in Vientiane was spent trying to sort out our Thai visa - this included an early morning trip to the Thai embassy (we got there before 8am) and were 17 in the queue. Filled in passport forms and handed them in - and told to come back at 1pm the next day.<br>Trouble was our tour was leaving at 9.30am by public bus the next day - so if we wanted these visas - we had to catch up our tour.<br>So we got to the ...

... the bus down to 4000 islands. It's surprising how quiet the group became once Maurits departed and it certainly is weird not hearing him shout "This is ********" every 2 minutes! Amazing what a week with someone can do!<br><br>So that is where we are upto at the moment. Next stop is Don Det for some much needed chilling out. From there, who knows? Maybe Vietnam, maybe Cambodia, I'll see how I feel when I want to move on! Other than that all is well this end. <br><br>UTV<br><br>Bazz x

... par Gravol !! <br> J&lt;arrive finalement a Vientiane a 9h le soir. Fait 3 ou 4 guesthouses tous plein. Je fini dans un hotel, bcp plus cher que ce que je paye d&lt;habitude (i.e: 20 US$ alors que d&lt;habitude de paye 5 ou 6 $ - pas de quoi fouetter un chat). Pas premiere impression de la ville N&lt;est pas tres bonne...<br><br>Alors, tant pis, le lendemain, je profite de ma malchance en me prelassant dans mon lit confortable, a l&lt;air climatisee et en coutant TV5 ou on joue ...

... near the hotel.<br><br>There was nothing for it. After nearly 30 hours of hell on the busses we checked in, showered, cracked a beer from the minibar and headed to a French Restaurant for some 'Steak au Poivre' and a drink. It was delicious. I did try to speak French to the waiter but he looked at me like I was derranged (strange seen as the menu was in French). I ignored all travel advice and ordered my steak medium rare and ...

... pay more to get a trip there - the bus only cost a quid each way!) - I had no idea where I was going but I knew it took about an hour to get there.... and luckily it was on the main road so I saw it and didn't end up hours away! And I got in for free cos the guy working at the desk was asleep (very Laos-style!!)<br>Buddha Park is a park full of Buddhas! (and other Hindu symbols... elephants etc).. it looks old, but is only about 50 years old... some random Hindu/Buddist ...

... is probably the quietest we have ever visited. When you realise how good the rest of Laos is you may well think why did you bother stopping here at all.<br> Two redeeming factors were the local food stalls (we tried some excellent aromatic dishes, different to everywhere Else in Asia) and the caption under the Patouxai Monument (see pictures).

... lovely views of Thailand and it has a bath in the middle of the room!<br><br>After unpacking, we decided not to go out as it was still too wet and spent the rest of the afternoon studying up on Laos.<br><br>Wed.13 May. Vientiane. We decided to give the truck a rest today and use our legs to get around. The weather was so much nicer, a little overcast and for a change not too hot. After a walk along the river bank where we watched sand and rocks being dredged to make a new road, we ...

... were photos of one girl in particular that really touched me. She had been born without hands or feet and so her mother had abandoned her, but she was so beautiful and had the biggest smile on her face. I couldn't believe someone could give her up, but with the severe lack of medical care in Laos I shouldn't really pass judgement. After visiting COPE, we wandered to Pha That Luang, the most important national monument in Laos. It was ...

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