Moon City

It's back on the bus as we travel to Vientiane, the capital. Directly translated, 'Vientiane' means 'Moon City'. Our guide from now on is a New Zealander called 'V-Man'. Before being taken to our accommodation, we do a city tour. We visit two places: The first is a golden monument, which is very important to Lao. I didn't catch quite why it was important, but it features on the 50,000 Kip note, so it must be. The second stop is a big concrete arch made from leftover airport runway concrete donated by the Americans. It's thus given the nickname, 'The Vertical Runway', and is similar to the Arc de Triomphe.

Rachelle and I are on a budget, so refuse the suggested accommodation and search for our own. Wandering the Vientiane streets with our heavy bags, we come across a hotel and enter the reception to ask for prices. Deciding that $115 is too much for one night, we scurry out and head back up the road. We run into V-Man, who points us in the direction of affordable guest houses. We find one that includes breakfast for 10 pounds a night. The room is small and basic, but nice.

Next on the to-do list was buying supplies (replenishing our toilet roll stash) which was a joy because they have air-conditioned convenience stores here - something we haven't seen in Lao so far. Then we ate at a nice little restaurant before heading down to the Mekong river to watch the sunset and talk. Across the river is Thailand, which we miss for its curries. The area is filled with Laoations cycling, jogging, chatting and the children play in the play-park. It's a popular recreation ground for locals. 

When it gets dark we walk through a park, which is barely lit and has a homeless man looking through bins. I also got hit on the head by a shuttlecock, but I blame myself for leading us into the middle of two girls playing badminton. 

In the night we explore Vientiane. It's very much a city, which is strange because even the city of Luang Prabang didn't really have a city vibe. We laugh when we see a Laoation fast-food restaurant called 'McconKey', find an actual supermarket (first one in Thailand and Lao we've seen) and end up going to McconKey's on the way back to the guest house. We didn't feel guilt over eating at the chicken fast-food restaurant, because it's an authentic Laoation chain and we're here to experience all of Lao. That's how we justified it anyway. It was good.