Laos - Vientiane

We got a sleeper bus to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.  It was New Year, which means 4 days of water fights - countrywide

Practically everyone is either on pickups, armed with waterpistols, or stood at the side of the road with hoses, buckets of water etc.  Everyone's drinking Laos Beer and when they see a couple of foreigners who look a bit too dry....

Everyone was in good spirits and we were practically force fed beer by locals as we walked past numerous groups.  So different from the locals we'd met in the south

A chinese style temple on the banks of the Mekong River

Paul is wet here from the waterfights.  You just couldn't avoid it.  Further to the right of the picture was a mass foam party for free!

Statue of King Fa Ngum, the first king of the Lao Kingdom, back in 14th Century who fought and conquered areas in including Vientiane and Luang Prabang (former capital, situated north of Vientiane)

This is Patuxai, meaning Victory Gate.  It was built between 1957 and 1968 with concrete donated by the USA to build an airport.  As such, it is known by the locals as the 'Vertical Runway'.  It's to comemerate those Laotians who died during wars, including the one for the independence from French rule in 1949.

They ran out of money when building it, so it's partially finished

The views into the centre were enough to turn my stomach

It's full of Buddhist and mythological creatures

It's now part of a park which the Laotians enjoy, especially when waterfighting!