If you would like to read my full Laos travel blog click
on this link and start at "Our Introduction to Luang Prabang"



The Laotian capital is a striking contrast to Luang Prabang. By Laotian standards, Vientiane has a buzz: cars and trucks everywhere, lots of activity on the streets, commerce that does not just seem to depend on the tourist industry. A real city as opposed to an ancient capital – but by global standards still an unassuming backwater. It has some of the country's most important buildings – the glorious Wat Sisaket and Wat Phra Keao, and That Luang, a stupa that is said to be the holiest Buddhist site in Laos, its gold finish shining out against the blue, blue sky.