Travel to Vientiane, Laos PDR (Part 1)

After a short flight,

we finally arrived at Wattay International Airport, Vientiane, the capital of Laos.



Welcome to Vientiane !

Of course,as usual,we did not managed to book a hotel in advance,so at the taxi counter,we were at a loss what to say when asked about our destination. I recalled a hotel name and got us right into the heart of the city,unfortunately,it was fully taken up for the evening.

The best solution out of this was simply to ask the reception if they have any other places nearby that they could recommend? The staff was really helpful and we managed to find it in the next street after 2 corners.

After dumping our bags in the room,we rushed out to explore the city for food. We were really famished and this place is bigger than Luang Prabang and its our 1st time in this unfamiliar place.

After walking about 20 mins in the relatively warmer weather(about 26-28 degrees celcius),we came across a western/oriental/indian fusion kind of restaurant and the name is East meets West.

I ordered curry chicken rice to see if the curry is any different from Singapore.



It is not as spicy,but the aroma is more intense and I really cleaned up my plate.
As for my sister,she got herself a plate of Pasta..I think it tasted great too..and when you are hungry,everything seems to taste very good :)



Looks delicious isn't it?



My Thai friend got his fried rice with pork..



My Singapore friend ordered rice noodles with pork. At first I was wondering what that was on the menu,but when it arrived,I realised that was what I would call 'bee hoon' in Singapore.



Now, my dear readers..Which one do you think is the most delicious of them all? :)


After the wonderful lunch, we decided to visit 2 places of attractions on that day itself altough it is already close to 4pm (It means we do not have much time left for the day!)

The 2 locations are the famous That Luang Stupa and the Patuxai' and we definitely did not have the time to walk there.As we were walking on the street towards the direction that we wanted to go,we saw a row of tuk tuks..the local 3 wheel motorised transport and they wasted no time to get us in. In fact,they actually have with them a price list with colour photos..however,we still thought it was pretty steep because initially they tried charging us per pax per destination.

After a bit of negotiation and showmanship on our part,we managed to lower the price because the 2 destinations are actually quite near to each other. Spend money to save time or spend time to save money? We did not have much time then.

We arrived at the That' Luang Stupa 1st..They were constructing a major road right in front of the entrance,so we have to walk a bit.



The entrance to the stupa seems to be surrounded by a man made park and its quite uplifting to the spirits to see kids play on the carpet grass fields. They have nothing much to play with..no swings or merry-go-round..only friends. How I miss my friends..


Anyway,the entrance was as far as we got to..the place was already closed for the day. I noticed the entrance fees here seems so much cheaper than Luang Prabang..even for foreigners!


This place was built in 1566AD..but I really do not know how long ago was that!
Read the history from the following photo if you got good eyesight :)


I think the golden stupa reflecting rays of the setting sun looks beautiful..Allow me to break today's post here with the next picture :)