Vientiane - the most 'non-happening' capital ever

So after yet another death defying bus journey from Vang Vieng, we finally reached Vientiane some 6 hours later. We were told there would only be about 12 people on the bus so we were hopeful at the prospect of space however, as we began to queue for the bus, it was evident we were lied to (unsurprisingly). We found our seats right at the back, on top of the engine, and began our competition of 'who can sweat and fidget the most'.

We checked into Vientiane backpackers hostel which was surprisingly nice until we realised there was a bed bug epidemic at the time. Fortunately none in my bed but most everyone else found themselves under attack by these little blood sucking bastards. Insofar as activities, I went to the Buddha park which is basically a park filled with the ruins of Buddhas from some many centuries ago. It was a pretty day out and we got to chat and play hide and seek with a couple of monks. That's a sentence I never thought I'd say. Other than that I saw the sunset over Thailand from the Mekong river bank, played fooseball in a bar and then got harassed by some very keen Laos prostitutes driving haplessly in there motorbikes in heels. I was impressed with their efforts. Impressed, not convinced. After a couple of days of nothingness we booked our onward journey. This was a sad day as our solid group of 8 cool and interesting randomers, a friendship forged in the early days of our slowboat into Laos, began to split. Some headed north to Vietnam, some south to 4,000 islands and Cambodia and others (me and 3 other cool cats) headed south to Tha Khek, Laos where we planned to do a 4-day motorcycle loop of southern and central Laos. Though we've gone separate ways, it seems South East Asia is a pretty small and coincidental place so I'm confident we'll meet again for more antics.

Now the fantastic four, we booked a 'VIP' ticket southbound to ensure the most comfort and air conditioning possible. I'm pretty sure both of these requests would have been honoured had the double decker bus not been crammed to the ceiling with passengers. We must have stopped a half a dozen times to pick up stragglers from the roadside and each time we did, the bus seemed to operate a BYOS service, that is, bring your own chair. And by chair I mean plastic garden furniture. The attached picture doesn't really do my description justice but honestly, the walkway between the two lanes of seats was filled with plastic stools, topped with passenger, topped with little kids, then topped off with bags and bottles of water. Absolutely mental.

Another 6 hours later we arrived in Tha Khek, a very quiet town again with not much happening. I've noticed that here, people do a whole lot of sitting and nothing, or seemingly nothing. Lots of back-of-house shops selling practically the same ridiculous tat as everyone else but there's no one bloody here so how do they make any money I wonder. I saw a shop fridge that had one Beer Lao (my best friend at the moment), one bottle of water and one bottle of M-150 (a heady Asian version of red bull, packed full of ephedrine). Either there was a mad rush of people (there wasn't and never will be) or the shopkeeper had low expectations of trade for the day (definitely the only explanation).

Anywhos, not here for culture. Tomorrow, we set off for our 4-day arse pounding on 110cc Korean Semi-Automatics! Vroom vroom! Should be fun, I'll keep you posted!