With Baguette in Laos - Vientiane

It's Tuesday and we have been on the road for 3 weeks. Time flies!

Vientiane is strongly influenced by French culture, and when we sat in the French café recommended by the Lonely Planet guide (Thanks, dear Saulgauer, for this travel guide!), we had to make an effort not to say "Merci" to the waiter. They had the best croissants we've had in a long time and the baguette was almost as good as in Paris.

We wanted to explore Vientiane by bicycle. So we hopped on our rusty bikes and off we went! We passed by the Presidential Palace, temples, and other "attractions," which is the best Vientiane has to offer (which is not much...). The most impressive is actually the triumphal arch, which offers a nice view. Otherwise, Vientiane, the capital of Laos, is not particularly interesting for a sightseeing tour. Apart from the suggested tour, there is the COPE Visitor Center. COPE is an internationally funded institution that provides prostheses and other orthopedic technology to the Laotian population who cannot afford them. In this museum, we learned a lot about the bombs dropped on Laos during the Indochina wars and their severe consequences, which are still ongoing today. Laos is the most bombed country in the world, with around 80 million of these "bombies" still hidden and capable of exploding at any time. Most of the victims are farmers working in the fields or children who find and play with the bombs... Many individual stories were depicted and how the organization was able to help the people, although for some it was too late. It was really touching and very relatable for us as physiotherapists. Absolutely fascinating!

In the evening, we met up with Riana and Georgi, who had also arrived in Vientiane, to have dinner together.

During the night, Carsten got diarrhea after Tina had recovered, so he decided to stay in bed the next day.

After receiving excellent care from Tina with medication, water, and bread, Georgi and Tina decided to take a local bus to the Buddha Park located about 24km outside of Vientiane. The bus can take up to 90 (!!!) minutes for this journey... but with good company and a fare of 60 cents per ride, we can handle it. Upon arrival, the park, separated from Thailand only by the Mekong River, wasn't as big as expected, but still very beautiful! Here we can see different Buddha figures and climb into the Hell's Mouth, where we can enjoy a nice view of the park from above. After another very long journey back, we finally met up with Carsten and Riana at the hotel and then went to the night market.

There was a wide variety of cheap trinkets and clothes at the night market, but our backpacks don't have enough space (yet).

Behind the night market along the Riverside, we heard loud music and saw hundreds of arms flying through the air. Of course, we went there to see what was happening. In the floodlights, there was an open-air aerobic / zumba session for free! A trainer stood on a platform at the front, and anyone in the crowd could join in - so much fun! Of course, the girls joined in right away ;)

Then, after dinner at a Laotian restaurant, it was time to say goodbye again... this time to Riana, who will stay in Vientiane longer before flying to Australia. We had been traveling through Laos with her until then. See you in Tenerife, Riana! :*

On Thursday, after a good breakfast at our favorite French café (Le Banneton), we continued to Thakhek with Georgi, from where we will embark on a multi-day motorbike loop. You can read about everything we experience there in the next post :)