An Oldie's Adventure: Vientiane: very civilised after Vang Viene

Great to be back to a town worth visiting. The French influence is more noticeable here with boulangeries, cafes and street names all pointing to Lao's French colonial past.

No prizes for guessing which Parisian monument this was based on:

The ceiling was worth a photo (a bit lopsided I admit but it was SO high I felt as though I was going to tip over as I snapped it!)

But the new Best Friends of the Lao are not the French:

Vientiane is definitely a developing area:

Not all the new buildings could be classed as attractive:

So much of the new development could be classed as soulless and stateless. Many cities in Indochina retain classically inspired French architecture that is timeless and a joy to behold, but most of the new building in Vientaine was frankly what you would expect of a nouveau riche despot.

I did however see a couple of new buildings that were a bit of an improvement on many I saw:

Might be time to upgrade the French Embassy:

And the Historical Museum has seen better days:

Even the most imaginative estate agent would struggle to find a positive spin on this in your front garden:

The Presidential Palace occupies an imposing spot:

And the banks are obviously the ones with money to show off:

Interesting that the standard of cars here was noticeably so much higher than anywhere else I had been on my travels:

Not sure David and I would get far kayaking on the canal:

Presumably in the rainy season it's a bit more impressive.

Talking of impressive I was interested in who this obviously important chap was. I never did find out but his fan club make sure he's never lonely:

It has to be admitted that in the whole Vientiane left me unmoved.

Well, apart from the temples. These were magnificent, virtually each and every one of them. I would happily have spent my whole time there admiring just them and ignoring the rest of the city. So on that note I will leave you, with a warning that what follows is a very long stream of photos of nothing but temples. For me they were the defining image of Vientaine and the only part for which I felt any enthusiasm hence why you are about to be subjected to a lot of photos of them!