But Vientiane is much quieter than all of these towns. This place makes the dreamy Louang Phabang look like a hive of activity. It’s a low rise, leafy, incredibly quiet town on the banks of the Mekong River. A pleasant enough place for whiling away a few days – especially as the French colonial past means that there are several excellent bakeries and you can get a great espresso! There’s the usual quota of nice Wats and Chedis too. These seem to be more delicately decorated than those we’ve seen so far in Thailand (although still heavy on the gold paint), but they are generally fairly modest structures. This is apparently because many the temples were destroyed in Siam-Lao Wars, and only enthusiastic restoration has returned any to something of their former glory.
One slight drawback to coming here in July is that it is in the midst of the rainy season. And here the rainy season is a little more than a shower or two a day – you get truly psychotic weather. One moment it’s a nice warm morning, with friendly white fluffy clouds in the sky. A few minutes later a 10 second gust of wind seems to bring in huge grey storm clouds that instantly drop a small lake of water on you! This is intense rainfall - you can’t see more than 20 meters because of the density of raindrops, and the streets become small rivers and ponds in no time, leaving you trying desperately to keep your flip-flops on as you dash for shelter wading through water up to your ankles! But this doesn’t last long. Within a quarter of an hour the clouds will have swept away, and a startlingly hot sun will dazzle you from a brilliant blue sky, making you quickly don sunglasses and suntan lotion to avoid becoming a sun-scorched frazzle. But don’t worry – the lotion will be washed off thoroughly in half an hour when the whole process gets repeated and you are left drenched and dripping again!