Vientiane, Laos

While waiting for the embassy to open, to process our Thai visas, Randi and I spent the weekend in Vientiane. It's a small city, but rather a perfect one for wandering around aimlessly. We visited the Victory Gate of Vientiane and a Buddhist temple. Each evening, we enjoy dinner and drinks along the Mekong river.  Unfortunately, the Mekong river is quite low, but when we sit outside and eat at nite, the darkness hides the large sand piles and the reflections of the water glimmer in the distance.

                                     


This evening, Randi and I went to a lovely cultural dinner show with dancing and acting.  It was very serene. At the end of the show, Randi and I were invited to participate in dancing onstage, which we gladly (and embarrassingly) took part in!



















 
Initially, we were only going to visit Laos to obtain our visas, but we've actually loved our time here! The guidebook claims that the people of Laos are the most laid-back in all of South East Asia...and we believe it! It's very relaxing, quaint, serene, and everyone is extremely kind.We're enjoying Laos cuisine, fruit smoothies and french bread. In Thailand, the cheap beer is Chang at around 50 baht and with an alcohol content of 6.4 % . In Laos, it's Beer Lao with an alcohol  content of 5.4%

In a day or two, we'll head to Vang Vieng to explore the caves and go tubing. Then, who knows where to from there :)

 ~ Stacy