Vientiane is the city capitol of Laos and provides a much different vibe than in the rural areas of Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng. It’s surprisingly very similar to a lot of the other major cities and probably had some of the best variety of food options, which was such a nice change. We honestly were pretty beat from Vang Vieng so we spent majority of our time here relaxing in the hostel and taking advantage of variety of restaurants!
We stayed here for a total of 4 nights which I will have to say is much too long. I would say 1-3 nights at max, but the extra days helped us recover and allowed us some time to do some much needed laundry and further planning of our trip. A great stop to refresh and get back on top of things, it also is a major airport hub into the country so it’s very easy to get around throughout the rest of SEA.
Getting Here
As the cities capitol there is a major airport here so you can pretty much fly from anywhere into this major airport. Although we came from Vang Vieng so the only way to get here was via shuttle. This 3 hour ride was not nearly as crazy and bumpy as the one from Luang Prabang but do note that if you do take the busses and shuttles here they will cram every single person they can into these seats along with all your baggage so it’s not necessarily the most comfortable. However they do make some stops for food and the bathroom if you need and it goes by pretty quickly.
- Cost for shuttle: $9
Location
We stayed just on the edge of the Watchan district, walking distance from tons of restaurants and bars and about 20 minutes from the airport. Some of the best restaurant options were within reach which was great as we never had to rely on public transportation or tuk tuks to get around.
Accommodation: Dream Home Hostel 1
This was a decent hostel that was clean and comfortable but not the best social scene. It was a great location within walking distance to pretty much everything. It had great security and can’t beat the free breakfast every morning!
- Cost per night: $15
Activities
Buddha Park
I’ll be honest and say this was probably one of the weirdest tourist attractions throughout all of SEA, but I definitely would recommend to see it. It’s a massive park filled with interesting and unique sculptures some small and massive where you could climb inside, all having some relevant meaning to them.
It’s a bit out of the way, about 1 hour to get to, so the best and cheapest way to get there is via bus. There is a massive bus station in the city center but will say it can be a little confusing because there are so many it’s hard to know which one is right. Maybe more difficult especially on the way back since it is really rural out there but the drivers are pretty helpful and I think most of the busses are coming into Vientiane anyways. Just use your resources and ask questions. Someone will know English!
Arch de Triumph
Okay so maybe not the one in Paris, but because there is so much French influence in Laos you will find that a lot of architecture looks similar. The Arch here looks almost identical to the one in Paris just very unfinished and is actually described as a “concrete monstrosity”. I think the Laotian people are bitter about the French war from back in the 1800s.
COPE
COPE is a center that helps those injured from detonated bombs receive prosthetics so they can still move and function as normal as possible. This place was definitely one of the most eye opening experiences and taught me a lot about the affects the Vietnam war still has on the people of Laos.
I will say that traveling throughout these countries, those affected and those still affected from the Vietnam War, it is very difficult to say you are from America. These poor countries are still experiencing casualties and injuries from hundreds of thousands of undetonated bombs in the area. In addition because the Vietnamese reward highly for parts and pieces from these bombs, many kids go searching for them and it has become a very dangerous and illegal business still killing children and farmers. COPE currently works on detonating the bombs safely and protecting the people in the surrounding areas.
I came out pretty depressed but it really opened my eyes to the affects that the war still has on people today.
Movie Theater
Yeah, believe it or not they actually have a really nice shopping mall here. It’s very modern and clean. We had a lot of time here so why not catch a movie??
Massages
I’ll be honest and say the Laos massage is the best out of all of SEA because they do not use any oils and also don’t put you in strange positions like the Thai massages! It’s almost like a sports massage but not too hard. LOVE. Highly recommend getting as many as you can while you are there. Like, every day.
- Average cost: $6
Swimming Pool
So like I said before we booked maybe a few too many days here so we had a lot of spare time. Because it was so hot we decided to check out one of the public pools to swim some laps and cool off! Overall, the pool was really nice and clean. Did just the trick.
- Cost of entry: 15,000kip
Food & Dining
I don’t know if it’s because we were deprived of variety or what but this place was stacked with food options and really good ones too. If Vientiane doesn’t seem to do it for you just eat and you will be happy. Also the first 3 listed were all on the same street of our hostel so we didn’t have to go far.
- Rays Grill – If you want American dining like burgers and root beer floats, then this is your place. OMG such gourmet burger options and absolutely massive as well. This place packs out so get there early or just go for lunch like we did.
- PDR (Pizza da Roby) – Really nice and fresh Italian food. This spot is actually run by an Italian guy and everything on the menu is very simple but yum, just how they know best. Best known for their pizza.
- Namaste India – Really nice Indian food with massive portions. We each got 1 dish with rice and naan and couldn’t even finish. Great value.
- PVO – This place was just around the corner from COPE. Really bomb Vietnamese food, highly recommend the spring rolls and vermicelli dishes.
- Fuji – Josh took me here for our Valentine’s Day dinner. A really nice Japanese and sushi restaurant with an absolutely massive menu. You really can’t go wrong with the variety and selection here. Everything is also very fresh. It is definitely on the pricier end compared to the rest of the options listed above but we decided to splurge for V-day =)
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