Laos. Vientiane: Spring Festival 2020

The bus from Vang Vieng to Vientiane was another 4 hour monster but actually fairly comfortable. As luck would have it, I was dropped off at the end of the road by my hotel, another easy walk from bus stations.

I found my hotel and then immediately went in search of food, my empty stomach bus prep was a killer plan.

I sat in a small restaurant for about half an hour and in that time had 4 people approach me trying to sell me drugs, including one who confessed to being an undercover police officer after I turned him down. I had only been in the city for about an hour and was already feeling on my guard.

My hotel was in the middle of the city and so very close to the river and the night market. I wandered about tasting the local street food and watching the night life. Next to the night market was a small park that was full of aerobics classes run by a Laos Mr Motivator style couple. They were great fun to watch, especially as most people couldn't keep up with the instructors.
The next morning I picked a direction and just walked for the day. The city is most large and busy with not loads of character.

I followed a very rough trail that my hotel had said was a highlights of the city tour. It took about 4 hours and circled the historic markers.


I wasn't hugely taken by the city and decided to leave back to Luang Prabang. My hotel was very unpleasant and expensive so I booked a flight back for a whopping £10. My flights out of VT had all been cancelled because of the virus and the travel restrictions on getting in and out of China. I was now running out of places to kill some time.

I went back to LP for a few more days before finally getting a flight to Bangkok.

All in all, I was in Laos for about 17 days and was very taken by the place. the people are amazing, the food very good and the scenery just out of this world. I am very glad that i finally made it through the country and managed to cross it ( or at least parts of it) off my travel list.