Vientiane

From Savannakhet, we biked 4 days North to Vientiane. Our route was Savannakhet -Thakek - Namthone - Thabok - Vientiane. These days were long, but beautiful - 455 km, including our longest day of 150 kms.

Buddha Park, outside Vientiane

Buddha Park is a modern (1960's) sculptural garden making an update to all the Buddhist carvings I was enjoying at the more historical SE Asian sites.

Vientiane is the Capital of Laos. When we arrived there we had not been to a large city for awhile, so it was a bit bittersweet. It had everything - tons of cultural places to visit, like the Buddha Park, and luxuries like book stores, western foods and hot water (we stuck to cold showers and Indian food). But along with all these amenities were lots of people, lots of tourists, lots of everything, and after coming from small intimate towns and villages, it was a bit of a shock to our senses.

Pha That Luang

Cycling up North from Vientiene, we stopped for a mid morning break at the Vientiene Zoological Gardens (Thulakom Zoo). The conditions there left something to be desired, but at the same time there were many of the "exotic" animals that this region is famous for.

Watchoooo loookin at?

Don't fall in.

We really wanted to get this monkey out of the cage.