"Laos PDR "The Land of a Million... " a Laos Travel Page by mpe514

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Pha That Luang, Vientiane

Vientiane - pronou. "Wieng Chan" = Sandalwood City

Sleepy capital of Laos located along the banks of the Mekong. No skyscrapers, fantastic beer (Beer Lao), great shopping at the market, great food, people friendly and laid back. City has wide streets with some French colonial architecture. At night, everyone goes to the banks of the Mekong to the beer gardens. General impression of Laos is that there is less discrepency between those that have benefitted from the tourist trade and those that have not (unlike Siem Reap where the difference is startling). Less opulence overall but it seems like most people in Laos enjoy a better standard of living. I had a very relaxing time and would definitely return!

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Wat Xieng Thong c. 1560 "The Tree of Life"

Luang Prabang

This is a World Heritage site (which puts it firmly on the tourist route) and the former royal capital of Laos, with 32 temples, the most famous of which is Wat Xieng Thong. This temple is many hundred years old and is decorated with millions of colorful glass tiles. The town is circled by mountains and is set about 800 m above sea level where the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers meet. It's VERY quiet at night with a colorful night market and lots of hill tribes offering hand sewn goods. The city itself is flat and great to get around on bicycle, except for one hill that offers a great panorama of the city. Good selection of restaurants. While the night market is great for hilltribe crafts, the stores in town are definitely pricier than Vientiane (more tourists) so there are more bargains to be had in Vientiane than in Luang Prabang. When I was there there were blackouts of the entire town at least 2 nights but it didn't last very long -- 1-3 hours at most and rather than inciting panic or riots and looting (like lots of western countries) it was actually a social bonding event with restaurants bringing out candles and continuing to serve food and when it lasted for a while, people very calmly returned to their hotels or homes. That said, my mini-flashlight that I always carry with me came in handy!