Vientiane
Goodbye to Matt, Tom and Pete, while we stay on. We like Vientiane and have managed to see a lot of it's sights. It's the capital city, but still feels very small and town-like.
We've been to see the Patuxai monument, which is basically a bit like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and made from concrete that was donated by the US in order to build a new runway at the airport. Hahahah! It's to commemorate the Laos people who died in the wars, so in a way, it is a bit of a two-finger salute to the US.
We've been to the most famous temple, too which has got a great golden stupa and saw the morning market and other bits of town. Hired some bikes to have a look around and treated ourselves by lounging by the pool side of Vientiane's poshest hotel. Also managed to find the lido, built in the 50s by the French and just generally had a good look around.
After our last injection tomorrow, we have a week until getting to Siem Reap, so we decided to jump on the night bus to Pakxe and visit the Bolaven Plateau and the 4000 Islands. Hopefully we'll manage to fit it all in until we fly to Siem Reap on the 20th. The plateau is the main coffee growing region in Laos and the 4000 Islands is where the Mekong River divides into many rivulets until it joins together again to flow into Cambodia and then Vietnam. If we are lucky, we will be able to see the rare Irrywady Dolphins (the only freshwater dolphins in the world) around the islands and maybe top up our tans on the beaches around there.
It all sounds great, and we're excited to be able to move on. Hopefully, we'll be in Siem Reap for Christmas and meet up with Tom, which should be a laugh! Can't believe it's this time of year already...
We've been to see the Patuxai monument, which is basically a bit like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and made from concrete that was donated by the US in order to build a new runway at the airport. Hahahah! It's to commemorate the Laos people who died in the wars, so in a way, it is a bit of a two-finger salute to the US.
We've been to the most famous temple, too which has got a great golden stupa and saw the morning market and other bits of town. Hired some bikes to have a look around and treated ourselves by lounging by the pool side of Vientiane's poshest hotel. Also managed to find the lido, built in the 50s by the French and just generally had a good look around.
After our last injection tomorrow, we have a week until getting to Siem Reap, so we decided to jump on the night bus to Pakxe and visit the Bolaven Plateau and the 4000 Islands. Hopefully we'll manage to fit it all in until we fly to Siem Reap on the 20th. The plateau is the main coffee growing region in Laos and the 4000 Islands is where the Mekong River divides into many rivulets until it joins together again to flow into Cambodia and then Vietnam. If we are lucky, we will be able to see the rare Irrywady Dolphins (the only freshwater dolphins in the world) around the islands and maybe top up our tans on the beaches around there.
It all sounds great, and we're excited to be able to move on. Hopefully, we'll be in Siem Reap for Christmas and meet up with Tom, which should be a laugh! Can't believe it's this time of year already...
posted by Phil and Tanja @ 3:23 AM
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