The road from Vang Vieng was long and bumpy. And naturally it came as a surprise to see brands of luxury cars being sold and used in this very remote and poor part of the planet. Where would they ride them, given the state of the roads? The answer obviously being, nowhere: Rolls Royce, Porsche and Ferrari (!) are status symbols. And some people, one in a million maybe, have so much money in the otherwise communistic Laos, especially Vientiane.
Wandering in this compact city is easy. One can visit all sights on foot, a rare thing for a capital, although one must count on drinking continuously, because once again the heat can be unbearable. Moreover, you will have no difficulty pleasing your earthly senses in Vientiane, with its multitude of bars, restaurants, spas and massage parlours. Baguettes are ubiquitous, as is French and Italian food and I must say in Vientiane I had one of the best mousse au chocolat in my life! The waitress gave me the recipe, but I must have been concentrating on her see-through dress, and I forgot…For the rest I decided to detox myself from Asian food and indulge on pizzas, pasta and of course over-caffeinate myself in the Amazon café (the not so distant brother of Starbucks, albeit with better-looking servers) in view of what was to come.
In Vientiane you will see or meet many foreigners working in foreign agencies or international organisations. They typically drive in their own huge white SUVs, sometimes in an arrogant manner. Vientiane has been a very important city in the past, much more than it is now. It has paid its strategic importance in Indochina and thereafter by receiving 260.000.000 exploding devices. 78.000.000 have not (yet…) exploded, but when they do they cause enormous suffering to people that cannot afford any kind of help (there is no such thing as state health insurance in Laos, and all people apart from the military and the civil servants pay everything from their pocket). So if you want to modestly participate in the sufferings of the victims of UXO (unexploded ordnances) you can visit COPE and donate!
There is a very nice night-market in Vientiane, as well as some very interesting bookshops, which may be the offer the best opportunity to buy quality presents, books on Laos or good maps.
Last but not least, very early (like 05.00 am) and late-ish in the afternoon (after 18.00, to avoid the killing heat) there are free cardio-, dance-, or however you call these fitness lessons at the riverside, with loud music. A score of locals and some foreigners participate and this offers a great scene if you want to catch the pulse of the city quickly.

The pictures

The postcards

The films