Vientiane Laos

My main reason for this trip was to make a change to the visa that allows me to stay in Thailand. This went really smooth with less than 15 minutes in the embassy both applying and picking up the visa. I did not think I was stressed about this process but once I had my passport back with the new visa in it I seemed to relax from something I didn't even know I was feeling.

I use to consider myself a good traveler but I have either lost some of my travel mojo or am just out of practice. I have been to Vientiane twice before and this is my first trip out of Thailand in 3 years so that be may part of my issues. I use to get a thrill from travel and enjoyed the challenges but I seemd to look at things as headaches rather than challenges on this trip.

I did not do a lot of what I like to call playing tourist while I was in Vientiane. I did visit a few of the tourist sites but only one impressed me and I will cover it in the next post. I thought about renting a motorcycle and riding around to visit one of the coutries major attrations but the idea of 6 or 7 days on a motorcycle was too much for me. I though maybe I will take public transpost but 12 hours in a minivan to see something that all the reviews I have read call disappointing just to take the 12 hour return journey was not something I was up for on this trip.

The following 2 pictures are from Wat Si Muang which according to lonely plante guide book gets it name from having the city pillar. When I first read the name of the temple I thought it was going to be a temple with everthing in the color purple but was disappoint it was not the Thai word for purple See Muuang.

I also visited COPE visitor centre at the Centre for Medical Rehabilitation. In the following picture is a display of prosthetic legs.

When I first walked in COPE I saw this carpet bomb display and thought I have been here before. I am now not sure if I visited COPE in the past or have seen a similar display in a different museum about the Vietnam war.

This statue in front of COPE is made up from parts taken from unexploded ordinances.

After getting my passport back from the Thailand Embassy I moved from the hotel I was in close to the embassy to a hotel close to the river walk and night market. I spent the next days walking around this area not doing a lot other than just wasting time.

The one thing I really enjoyed in Vietiane was Beer Lao. I think it taste better and is cheaper than the Thai beers so was the highlight of my trip.