Vientiane Travel Guide
With a population of just over half a million, Vientiane is the centre of Laos culture, commerce and administration and is considered as being mad busy in comparison with the other Laotian urban conglomerations. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Vientiane, like many Southeast Asian cities, is a place of contrast. Rice and vegetable fields are well hidden behind tree-lined pathways, where French-style buildings stand next to Buddhist monasteries and monuments, each telling a story of the country' s rich, cultural and somewhat troubled past.