Destination: Laos

From Cambodia, we head back to Bangkok and then, within a few hours, book an overnight train to the Thailand-Laos border. Our destination was Vientiane, which Lonely Planet lauds as (1) the most laid-back capital city in the world and (2) oozing with French-colonial charm. I think half of this assessment is accurate. For a capital city, Vientiane is surprisingly quiet. However, Charlie and I were underwhelmed. Perhaps it is unfair to judge Vientiane too harshly so soon after experiencing the tremendous charm of Siem Reap.... Perhaps Vientiane would be more enjoyable after they finish the round-the-clock construction along the river to fortify the banks against flooding.... Perhaps we would have liked Vientiane more if we had found a hotel that was more reasonably priced and cleaned more often... or if it had not rained... or if the crazy French restaurant owner had not yelled at me for sending my (very expensive) over-fried and under-seasoned fish and souffle back.... Oh, what might have been, if Vientiane was not as it was for us - just a place we passed through to get to someplace better.

I did, however, find the closet full of Buddha statues beheaded "during the war" (I take it it was the Vietnam War, but am not really sure - that's all the sign said) displayed at the local Wat particularly haunting. As Charlie asked, How can anyone be offended by a Buddha statue?