Laos | Vientiane

We spent our first morning in the capital viewing the main sites. Taking another "book of lies" walking tour we sweated our way past the the Presidential Palace, the numerous temples, the local market - Taat Sao. Included in the tour was Victory Monument (above). This impressive structure was built entirely from concrete, with the concrete being donated to the good people of Laos, by the Americans, so that they could build a new runway after the war. Deciding that a giant arch was much higher up on their list of priorities they used the entire lot on Victory Monument!!

That evening, as the sun set, we took the advice of the "the book of lies" and headed out to watch the sun set over the beautiful golden Pha That Luang (below). Whilst it was a truly beautiful site, what the "book of lies" failed to mention was the wall of mosquitoes that accompanied the view!

So, as the sun set, and the mosquitos slowly drained us of all blood, we were treated to the beautiful views shown left and below! Note, the slight blurring in the image on the right was due to me trying to take the photo whilst running round in circles in a desperate bid to loose the midges!!

Our second day in Vientiane was another arduous day by the pool and an evening booking the bus to our next destination Vang Vieng!