Sean and I left for Vientiane by a lovely comfortable bus! A luxury in Laos! We planned to arrive in Vientiane on Thursday afternoon and go straight to the Vietnam embassy to apply for next day visas. However, unknown to us, the embassy was closed for holidays Thursday-Sunday so we spent more time than we would’ve liked in the smallest capital city I’ve ever visited!
The first day we walked around the city, visited temples, monuments and markets, as well as playing a lot of pool! (Or hostel choice was based on the presence of a pool table!) We also stumbled across an amazing Mexican restaurant which sold burritos, quesadillas and… hummus!!!
That night we visited the night market along the river and played pool, drank rum, and eventually ended up in a Lao nightclub; where, if Sean hadn’t been there, I’d have been the tallest by far!!
The weekend, we spent chilling and playing a lot of pool, I don’t think I lost a frame at this hostel! We also went back to the Mexican place too many times! I used my incredible research skills to find a local swimming pool at a hotel and we paid £1 for a private pool (nobody else was there), apart from the crowd we dragged along with us from the hostel!
That evening we ate street food looking out over the river and watched the sunset.
On Monday, we were finally able to apply for our Vietnamese visa! And we chilled as usual, played pool and walked through the local park to a monument and town hall.
Our last day in Vientiane was topped off with one final Mexican and a trip to the embassy to pick up our visas. We arranged for an overnight bus to take us directly from the embassy to Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. 26 hours on a bus….. :O
Laos was beautiful, but I spent all my time here in heavily tourists towns and popular hostels, so I do feel like I didn’t see the real Laos. I plan to return to the south of Laos after Vietnam and Cambodia, so I will try to visit smaller villages then if I can.
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