Vientiane, Laos

We only had one night in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It seemed to be a fairly sleepy city, but we didn't have the chance to explore it thoroughly. 

For dinner, we met up with a mutual friend who has been living in Vientiane for a couple of years now. It seems to be a common story that people move to Laos on a short work contract and find a way to stay. There is a nice close knit community of expats living there. 

The food we ate was delicious. I ordered the fish which I assumed would be a small piece of fish with other sides. False. 

It was a lot of fish! But incredibly tasty.

We spent the following morning at the COPE visitors centre. Laos was heavily bombed during the Vietnam war, and the country is still dealing with the aftermath of all the bombs (many of which went undetonated). COPE helps amputees to get artificial limbs so that the can resume their lives. It was a very sad, but informative exhibition. I would highly recommend it to anyone going through Vientiane.

That afternoon we sadly said goodbye to Anna, who was going to Wellington,

New Zealnd to begin a semester abroad there. 

Goodbye to the trio!

Next stop: Vietnam.