We are on the move again. A few hours to the capital city. A much cleaner hotel in the centre and some delicious spring rolls for lunch (did i mention this feels like a food tour :) ) We were let loose by ourselves with a couple of directions from Limny and we went to find some traditional textiles, the oldest temple in Vientiane and the market. It was a hot walk round but down by the river was good and we eventually found the market under a mall. A bit mental and they could see us foreigners coming a mile off with their crazy prices. The mall itself was a bit mental too. All free space crammed with market sellers. One place had some very nice 'Cath Kidston' bags. Lots of jewellery, bags, wallets (designer of course) a whole section devoted to phones and cameras and technology, each counter looking exactly the same as the next. Lots of bartering 'this an authentic ipod' we were assured as they halved the price as we walked away.

We had had enough by then and we went for a much needed group coffee and cake. Its funny the little things that make doing stuff in the heat worth it :)

We dressed up a bit for dinner (as much as the backpack wardrobe would allow) and went for dinner at a training restaurant run by an NGO supporting people who need help into a trade. There were lots of different dishes to share and taste red potato curry, laap (minced meat and herbs), veggies, morning glory. Not my favourite but mum loved it. The caramelised pineapple and coconut ice cream made up for it though. :)

Another night market this time but not as good as Luang Prabang. A quick look while avoiding the pickpockets and back to our lunch stop for 'Laogria' and live music. Laos taste in music seems to involve a lot of old love songs like the Eagles, the Beatles or the Carpenters :-/ On the Vang Vieng bus we had been listening to similar as well as some of the West life song oeiginals and i think maybe even Nsync :-/