Arrived in Vientiene, capital of Laos. We were pretty bussed out after Vietnam so decided to splash out on a flight - with that great airline Laos Airways. It was fine though (the proppelor plane was slightly scary) and we arrived safely in possibly the quietest capital city in the world. There was hardly anyone there and not much to do - very strange. Also much be the most laid back place inthe whole of SE Asia, you can walk around the city all day long and no one will try and sell you anything!

Met some people on our flight and spent our couple of days in Vientiene with them. Saw a temple, went to the local market, went for drinks in a local bar on the Mekong river, went ten pin bowling (random) and also managed to find a bar showing the Arsenal vs Man Utd, much to Chris' relief.

The Irish guy we were with wanted to watch the later Liverpool match so we got taken to a late bar by some Aussies in their ute - we then found out the late bar was actually a 'knocking shop' with (to quote the Aussies) "w****s galore". The whole of Laos has a strict midnight curfew so, unless a bar flaunts the law and pays a fine, everything shuts dead on time. So to have a few late drinks often you have to get the slightly dodgy establishments!