Vientiane, Laos

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When your offered a flight with Vietnam Airlines for $7 more than Lao Aviation I suggest you fly with the former; that is of course if you like to fly on a plane with propellers :o)

We arrived in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, after just over a one hour flight which went rather smoothly, thankfully. We had a few dramas in Hanoi though mostly to do with the foreign exchange which in one word are plain shit! The only foreign exchange to change Dong to Dollar had no dollar left??? and the other one was only allowed to change Dollar to Dong (and not the other way around). Head-wrecking! So here we are with two million Dong heading to Laos with just enough dollars to pay for the visa :o) Where's your oldest sister when you need her? :o) An afternoon in Vientiane has proven no-one wants to know about Dong, especially on the weekend. We can change it on Monday apparently - you just gotta laugh..

Vientiane - probably the quietest Capital in the world..

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During our time here we visited the Lao National Museuem to learn more about the history of the country (no photography allowed) and the 'Arc of Triomph' (photos to be up-loaded). The National Museum is disappointing I have to say. There's some interesting photos and text about the war but for me the museum needs some cash influx (which apparently is on the cards). For those who don't know, it's only in the last say 30 years that Laos hasn't been fighting a war with either the French, Japanese or other military groups [funded by America]. In fact, Laos is the most bombed country in SE Asia. The statistic is frightening. Every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 9 years (that's right nine) a bomb was dropped on this beautiful country and it's friendly people. It's hard to believe! Apparently, there are more undetonated bombs in Laos then all of the bombs dropped in World War 2. Frightening.

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Maybe that has something to do with the laid-back, chilled atmosphere here. We rented out scooters and cruised around during the day. It's such a complete change from Hanoi and it was just really nice to drive around, take in the atmosphere and visit some places ourselves. In regards nightlife, Lonely Planet has it wrong; everywhere closes at 11.30pm - I don't think so. Vientiane has some alright clubs (albeit pretty dark inside) and can be found banging out tunes til the wee hours of the morning. Our first night here was really good and thats when we met Mel - the grey haired culchie from Offaly himself. As it turns out we all headed to our next destination together..