Laos capital - Vientiane

We arrived in Laos on Fiday (15'th July) night. We spent one day in Vientiane. Like Phnom Penh it is only worth spending one or two days here maximum. They are small cities without many exciting things to see. They are both along the Mekong River. We found Vientiane a little quieter than Phnom Penh and it was nice in that people were not as pushy (though Cambodians are far far far less pushy than other Asian countries).

We spent a day walking around Vientiane and the most interesting things to see were the old French Governor's residence (now a presidential palace) and Patouxai (the Laos Arc de Triomphe). They have a few temples as well, but in all honesty, we are sick to death of seeing temples and can happily avoid them for the rest of our holidays and probably for another 10 years or so. Here are some of the things to see in Vientiane.

The Vientiane fountain

Looking up the street to the presidential palace. A better picture is here.

The Laos Arc de Triomphe (or monster of concrete as the sign inside calls it). There is a rumour that this was completed using concrete that USA had donated for the airport leading some of the locals to call it "the vertical runway".

This gives an idea of how large it is.

View towards the palace from the top of the monument.

View the opposite direction.