Vientiane is the capital and largest city of Laos and is located on the banks of the Mekong, close to the Thai border. Actually, the Thai border is on the other side of the Mekong River. Vientiane was the administrative capital during French rule and, due to economic growth in recent times, is now the economic center of Laos.
How did we get here? We had three options to travel from Vang Vieng to Vientiane: the train (which we were originally planning on riding), mini bus or private driver. We were assured by our hotel that the mini bus was the cheapest, best and fastest option. The train station was supposedly an hour tuk tuk ride to city center in Vientiane so we trusted some local knowledge. We didn't care about 'cheapest' but fastest appealed to us. Our mini bus was packed. Thirteen total plus the driver and everyone's luggage. The seats were so uncomfortable and the van had no suspension or at least it felt that way. The only saving grace was the new highway connecting V.V to Vientiane. The ride took about two hours and dropped us off right inside the city center. Luckily there were several tuk tuks waiting.
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| Tuk tuk ride! |
Where we stay? Eastin Hotel Vientane. It is a new hotel and we were offered a riverfront, balcony suite for half price because they were still going through a 'soft opening'. Calling the room a 'suite' was pretty generous considering it was just a small hotel room with small bathroom. The view of the Mekong River was nice as well as the Thai skyline. The pool and breakfast were nice.
What did we do? Nothing. After breakfast we went for our morning walk then lounged at the pool all day. We were about a 30 minute walk from the city center so pretty much just stayed local. It was nice to not reallly do anything.
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| Now we had to worry about cars parked on the sidewalk |
Where did we eat? There was a rooftop bar and restaurant, 360 Restaurant. We ate at the bar the first night because we did not have reservations. The next night was Valentine's Day and who knew it's a big event in Laos!?! We couldn't even get reservations on the rooftop so enjoyed a nice river front dinner instead. We were able to make reservations for our last night and had cold spaghetti with meat sauce and a bottle of wine.
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| They had a real salad bar! |
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| Salmon Steak |
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| Kor Moo Yang Jim Jaew Grilled Pork collar with spicy tamarind sauce |
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| Met some fun people. Two ladies from Laos, one guy (originally from Laos) who lives in North Carolina and one guy from Ireland. Rob didn't stand a chance in the drinking challenge. Neither did the Irishman. |
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| We thought we ordered shrimp |
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| Aftermath |
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| Penne Bolognese |
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| Spaghetti Al'Arrabiata Too spicy for Sharon |
Overall, we would have been happy to have stayed in Luang Prabang for a month and skipped Vang Vieng and Vientiane. But you never know if you'll fall in love with somewhere unless experience it.
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
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