An update from Laos - Vang Vieng and Vientiane

Leaving the stunning hills of Luang Prabang behind we made our way to the 'chill out town' of Laos, Vang Vieng by bus. The journey offered spectacular views of the mountain ranges unfortunately with that came the winding roads that tested the best stomachs! At times both of us came over a bit queasy! One hour from Vang Vieng the road and our stomachs became settled again. We checked into Sisavang guesthouse (it had received good reviews) and at $8 a bargain. The room was basic but clean and by the time we'd walked around the town to find a place for a drink and a snack it became obvious this was not a place for us and we'd only be staying one night. Mark described the place like a university campus on permanent holidays! It was relatively quiet apart from the episodes of 'Friends' and 'Family Guy' being blasted out from the TVs in the bars! The shops were also weird selling T-Shirts and power tools (just in case you'd forgot to pack either!).
We did, however, find one place that wasn't showing American TV on loop and had a fantastic meal. Before heading back to the hotel we booked our ticket to depart and then had a beer watching 'Family Guy'!
This morning Rach had a traditonal english breakfast (minus the bacon) and Mark yet again had a disappointing coffee! A smaller bus picked us up to take us to the bus station and the VIP bus that would take us to Vientiane. On arrival the bus didn't look VIP but we boarded to leave. Five minutes into our journey the driver stopped, shouted to his assistant who then jumped off the bus to inspect what they were talking about. To our amazement one of the back wheels had fallen off!! We waited for 30 minutes for another bus to arrive and this time it was the VIP bus we'd all expected in the first place! Back on a bus that had a wheel in each corner we tried again! The journey this time wasn't as bad as the last one despite the driver being like another F1 driver! Reaching our destination we shared an tuk-tuk with an Australian couple into the centre. With leaving early we again didn't have anywhere booked so walked the streets to find a bed for the night. We'd spotted one in the Lonely Planet (LP) that sounded good and was 100,000 kip ($12) but when we arrived they stated $34 before offering a discounted price of $29! Slightly above our budget we moved on. Thats one thimg we have found with the LP - use it as a really rough guide as once a place is in it the prices sky rocket.
Tonight we plan to chill and think about what we want to see here before booking our passage via train to Bangkok.
We've been disappointed with Vang Vieng and Vientiane which is a real shame because we're sure that some other areas of Laos are beautiful. With limited time we certainly haven't seen the best of this country but got a glimpse at how stunning it can be in Luang Prabang. Oh well it gives us an excuse to come back sometime and see the other good bits!
Hope the UK is still warm and dry and good luck to those playing hockey today.
With it being Sunday tomorrow we will try and phone home.
Love
Mark & Rach. xxx