Laos, with its capital city Vientiane insideasiatours.com

I had no expectations of Vientiane apart from it being the capital city of Laos. Most visitors to Laos head straight for the UNESCO World Heritage town of Luang Prabang skipping the country’s capital. But my day tour of Vientiane was one of the unexpected highlights of my two week journey through Laos. For while Luang Prabang is simply unique and a world-class cultural gem, to me Vientiane represents real, authentic Laos and it’s here that I really began to understand what everyday life is like for the Lao people.

Vientiane is the biggest city in Laos with a population of around 754,000, making it roughly the same size as Leeds. The city unfolds along one bank of the Mekong; over on the other side, just a hundred metres or so away, is Thailand. The riverside location gives the city a lovely focus as many bars and hotels face the river. It’s a great place for an evening walk, catching the breeze from the Mekong and watching the locals exercising in the parks.