Alone in Vientiane, April 2009

I was in Vientiane, Laos april 6th through 9th. I took a plane from Bangkok to Udon Thani (in Thailand) and then a 1hr bus to the border at Nongkhai (200THB), another bus (10 minutes) over the friendship bridge (20THB), and a minivan taxi into Vientiane (300THB split between two people).
I was there to get a non-immigrant B visa at the Thai Consulate, but apart from the 8 or so hours I spent waiting around there filling out a form or two and waiting for various numbers to be called, I got to spend most of my time in the Laotian capital studying Lao/Laotian and practicing it with whomever was around. It's really a short step over to Lao if you can speak a little Thai, so it was a sharp and fun learning curve for those few days. Now I'm back to Thailand. The video is pretty self-explanatory. Vientiane is a lovely town and - as you'll know if you've ever been there - really really quiet for a national capital. It's a great place to hang out, eat good food and learn Laotian. And really, what more could you want in a vacation*?

*Nothing, that's what.