Overland to Vientiane

After an 11 hour bus journey from Luang Prabang, through stunning countryside (which Sophie missed as she had her head in a sickbag), we were pretty relieved to finally arrive in the Laos capital, Vientiane. As usual, the bus terminal was way out of town, giving some extra business to the tuktuk drivers. Once we decided upon a hotel, we wandered out to explore.

Vientiane is written about in travel guides as quite a romantic destination. We didn’t really get it? There were lots of great little cafés for the expats, offering indulgent pizza dinners and croissant breakfasts. But aside from that, there’s not a lot going on. The city felt like a sleepy town. The riverside night market mostly sold tat, and was sparse and dusty by day. Most places shut early, so there wasn’t much nightlife, and the swimming pool was tiny and verrry chlorinated. Overall, it was a sharp reminder that this is actually a poor nation, without all the facilities and services which are normally taken for granted at home.

After the bad bus, we changed our route again. We would love to see the south of the country, but we will have to return with stronger stomachs, or a bigger transport budget! Instead, a day later than planned (due to a cancellation), we hopped on a flight to Siem Reap Cambodia. Olly had the pleasure of sitting next to the Secretary of Agriculture, who informed him that the same flight a week earlier had crashed. Sophie sat between two bossy ladies who kept telling her how to behave on planes…

Bus stop for oranges

Orange farmers stay at their stall day and night until all are sold

Bad bus time

Lots of farming

Splendid views for Olly

More splendid views for Olly

Yes that’s a man balancing on a ladder, which his mate is leaning on…!

Vientiane’s main attraction

We felt this was more of a staffroom poster, maybe not for the passenger lounge?