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A work trip to Vientiane

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In the first year of my posting to Beijing, in 2011, I had the opportunity to travel to Laos to attend a conference and whilst there, we had half a day off to walk around the small capital city of Vientiane.

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It was so incredibly hot so we started off walking along the Mekong River looking at the local homes and one huge building which we were told was to be a new hotel – bit out of place with the other homes.

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And then Thailand in the distance, across the Mekong…

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The city as I mentioned was quite small; with many temples and other interesting buildings with lovely architecture.

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We saw what is regarded as the most important national monument in Laos and the national symbol; the Great Stupa which is a gold-covered large Buddhist stupa in the centre of Vientiane and built in the 3rd century.

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img_5440Vientiane was a pretty clean place and I think very similar to some other Asian cities with the obligatory tuk tuk; cute but the one we got in was rather shabby and in need of quite a bit of work.

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img_5459We ate lunch at local corner restaurant; good food and clean inside and the boys enjoyed the local beer.

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I think Laos is a place I need to return to see other places apart from the capital…maybe one day!!