Laos - Vientiane city tour of the Tourist Attractions
So lets go on a tour of Vientiane and see what attractions it holds for the casual holiday maker or the visa runner, not a lot actually but it is quite a nice place for eating and drinking.
So first off you need some transport, you can rent bicycles all over the place, or one of these samlor things, remember some are in better condition than others, we used the same guy for the 2 days we were there, just told him what time and where to pick us up, prices from friendship bridge are all listed so they can't be ripping you off to much, got to admit it didn't feel like dealing with Thai taxi drivers where you know that as soon as they open their mouths they are trying to rip you off so maybe the French did do some good in the world.
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Thats one we didn't get :)
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You will see quite a few nice looking luxury SUVs and nice cars, but you do have to remember the French influence and the crap they brought into Lao.
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Quite a few beggars, some were a bit of a pain.
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The Laos Arc De Triumph, not quite as impressive as the French one in Paris, there is a small fee to go inside but there really aint much point as it doesn't over look anything of interest anyway.
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Probably looks good when he fountains are turned on.
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Next stop some Buddhist Temples, yep thats as exciting as it gets :(
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Vientiane banevatchanh sanitary model village
So lets hit the cultural sites in Vientiane, and what better or more boring than a Temple.
This place had some really great carved teak wood doors, thats about the best thing I can say about it.
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Somebody spent some money on painters.
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Something like this on your Brixton flat would look cool.
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This is the original Temple, about 100 odd years old, it's locked but probably real easy to open.
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Not too bad looking is it :)
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Laos Vientiane Nam Phou Square fountain
Here are a few pictures of the Nam Phou Fountain, not very impressive, probably would have looked better if they turned on the water.
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There must be a better way to make a fountain, those pipes look damn ugly.
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Plants looked quite nice though.
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Vientiane presidential palace
The Vientiane presidential palace was originally built to house the French colonial governors, not too shabby is it, it was also used as a royal residence for the monarchy after independence.
Since they kicked out the royal family in the 70s the palace is now for the president and formal occasions, they wont let me or you in though :(
You will find it down on Lane Xang street.
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