Coming in to Vientiane from Hanoi, I am hit by a complete change of culture. In Hanoi, people were very industrious. Many woke up very early. When I woke up at 7am, seems like the whole place was awoke; breakfast was on the table, people were all around rushing for work, roadside eating stores were filled with people. In Vientiane, the people running my guesthouse was still half asleep when I came down at half past 8. Things were generally slower and tuk-tuk drivers hardly bother you with going somewhere eventhough I was looking for one.
Anyway, I have been Vientiane for a few days now. I was hoping to meet up with some of the Christians from my church in Vientianne. However, the Vientiane contact I had was in Bangkok so I did not manage to meet up with any of the locals. Spent my days visiting temples, parks and museums around Vientiane. Spent 2 days staying with some really budget travellers so I spent only $10 a day. And that was because I ate $5 for breakfast and dinner. I was staying in a real dodgy guesthouse for $1.50 a bed. After 2 days of being bitten by mosquitoes and facing dirty toilets and unclean bed sheets, I had enough and moved on to a $5 a day room. Not the best place but very clean and the owner seems to have an obsession with killing bugs -Â a real luxury compared to the rathole that I had to endure for the past 2 days.
Vientiane does not seem like a popular place for the tourist. Most of the tourist stops here for a day or two and move off. Half of them don't even make an effort to see the popular sights in Vientiane. Many just come here for visas or official business. They probably would rather spend their days in Luang Prabang. Overall, Vientiane is a slow, quiet and beautiful city overlooking the Mekong River.
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