Viva La Vientiane

Day 1

We made it to Vientiane with no issues! It was an eerily smooth transition from Chiang Mai to Vientiane, something we weren’t really used to.

We got to walk across the border again!

We spent two sleepy days in Vientiane. There wasn’t much to do, and we spent most of our efforts looking for a Honda Win motorcycle instead of sightseeing. So far, Laos reminded us of India, but much quieter and with 1/10 the amount of people.

After we got everything sorted out at our hotel, we set out for our first meal in Laos – pasta! This place (the State of Pasta) was actually one of the top 10 restaurants in Vientiane, a homemade pasta place that incorporates Lao flavours. It was really interesting, like eating a Lao dish but instead of proper noodles they’re pasta noodles. The tiramisu was also mouthwateringly delicious.

We bummed around the city some more, looking for bike shops, and found the rental prices to be way more than in Thailand. Discouraged, we kept walking until we saw two Honda Wins parked outside a hostel. Curiously, Bill started checking out the bikes, and then the owners came by. It turns out that they were looking to sell their bikes! We jumped on the opportunity and bought one of the bikes. It wasn’t in the greatest shape, but it was what we were looking for…

With our new bike, we felt free again. Having the ability to go anywhere you want (not having to walk) is a great feeling. For the rest of the night we stayed local and walked along a boardwalk type thing (except no water) where the night market was.

Day 2

Now that we had a bike, we decided we should actually do some sightseeing and explore the city. Our first stop was one of the best restaurants in Vientiane, called Doi Ka Noi, an authentic Lao restaurant with a menu that changes daily. We thought we should actually try the Lao food in Laos. We sat in the garden area which was lovely and quiet, and ordered four dishes to share. We had fried riverweed, rattail beans and mushrooms (sesame tasting), braised duck, pork in deep fried lemongrass, and sticky rice! The meal was amazing and bursting with flavours we’d never had before.

There was really only one main thing to see in Vientiane, and that was the golden temple (Pha That Luang). We didn’t want to pay the entrance fee so we admired it from the outside. Still equally beautiful! The Buddha was in an area beside the golden temple which had free entry, so we went there too.

We continued to drive around and passed by another sight, Patouxai. It’s a war monument in the center of the city, dedicated to those who fought for independence from France. It reminded of us the Arc de Triomphe. We didn’t want to pay for parking so we drove around it a couple of times to admire it.

And that was it for our sightseeing! We weren’t sure if it was just us or if Vientiane just didn’t have that much to do…

With its French influences, we decided to try a crepe for dinner. It was not what we were expecting but it tasted pretty interesting, in a good way. It was three small wheat crepes with some pesto and goat cheese on top, on top of a salad.

The next day we geared up for our drive to Vang Vieng…