Vientiane is the capital of Laos and the country’s largest city.

A fairly old city, Vientiane was established as the capital in 1560 AD.

When compared to the hectic capitals in other Southeast Asian countries, Vientiane offers something unusual for an Asian city, the possibility of some peace and quiet.. French Colonial architecture sits next to gilded temples, and the countless temples and pagodas reflect the city’s past. The two most important temples, Wat That Luang and Wat Phra Kaeo date back to the time the city was made capital. This friendly city is filled with crumbling French mansions, bougainvillea blooming streets and steaming noodle shops.

An interesting shopping venue is the Morning Market, a large collection of indoor stalls selling most anything. There are two floors. The first floor sells mostly textiles, electronics, and watches. The second floor has clothing, gold, and jewelery. Haggle and expect to pay about one third or one quarter of the first price you are offered. There are also department stores craft outlets around the city. There are many restaurants in Vientiane offering foods ranging from Chinese specialities to Tex-Mex and most are fairly good. Don’t drink the tap water. Stick to bottled water. There is not much in the way of night life.

Vientiane is a safe city in terms of crime. A bigger hazard than crime is the missing sewer covers on sidewalks. So, walk carefully and exercise caution at night.

Vientiane is served by Wattay International Airport. Public transportation is by bus, minibus, taxi and tuk-tuk.

Vientiane population is 200,000 (2005).

+856 is the international calling doce fot Laos
21 is the area code for Vientiane

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