I hired a tuk-tuk to take me downtown and started wandering around. By this time the sun was up, at least, but all of the guesthouses were full. I have never seen this anywhere. I didn't expect it to be a problem in Laos, of all places.
Because it's the capital city, prices are a little higher than in the rest of the country. I ended up taking the first place I found, which was decent: right in the center of things, pretty clean, private hot shower, not bad at all for probably the only room available at that hour.
(During my stay there I saw dozens of equally perplexed backpackers wandering around from guest house to guest house, wondering why they were all full.)
It's hard to believe it's a capital city. It's so laidback and mellow, with few tall buildings and a population of only about 200,000. The name is a French corruption of Wieng Chan, a Pali word meaning "city of sandalwood". It's a lovely name for a lovely town.
Vientiane sits on the Mekong, so there are lots of little makeshift cafes overlooking the river. Directly beneath the cafes are gardens, and in the river below fishermen tending their nets.
That's a sandbar in the middle of the river and Thailand on the opposite bank. This photo was taken at street level. Just outside the cafe the street is lined with sandbags. That's how high the river can get in the rainy season.
The riverside cafes are a great place to watch a sunset.
It's a small city, so there aren't a lot of sights to see. It is, however, a great place to relax and do nothing. I wish I'd budgeted more time for it. One thing I love about the city, and Luang Prabang as well, is how many Buddhist monks I saw. Orange robes are everywhere, more so than I've noticed anywhere else in Southeast Asia so far.
I saw a lot of monks at Pha That Luang, a temple that is the national symbol of the country, as seen here on a government building next to the temple.
The temple is quite striking from a distance.
But up close it's, um ... it's tacky. There, I said it. Here I am standing in front of its peeling paint and cracking mortar.
To get to the temple I had to ride my bike past Patuxay, a monument which calls to mind the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
This makes sense, albeit ironically, since the monument is dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France. I'm told the style is actually Lao, but it sure looks French to me.
What I really love about it is that it was built using money donated by the US -- to build an airport! Hence, it's nickname, the "vertical runway".
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