Hello from Vientiane!

Vientiane, Laos is a wonderfully easy going town. No too much traffic, wide sidewalks on main streets, and very courteous pedestrians and drivers.
When the Laotians defeated the colonial French, they built a Laotian Arch d'triumph at the entry to downtown in 1962. We did a walking tour of the city and saw lots of temples and monasteries, some dating back to the 1400s.
We had great lunches and a traditional Laotian beverage. We decided to name Gary's lunch "open heart surgery eggs".. by the way it was very tasty.
The exchange rate for money is almost 8,000 kip per dollar so when we went to the ATM for cash we received an impressive pile of bills! The picture here is about $60 US.
After we completed the walking tour we found ourselves along the banks of the Mekong. We came across this statue of a famous Laotian king ( ok can't remember his name). As we wandered along the river we noticed that they were setting up for a night market. After we enjoyed a drink and snack at a riverside restaurant, we wandered back to find a large and active market in progress. Here is a picture of kids painting ceramics at the night market..
We ate dinner at a Korean restaurant! (there is no explaining what Americans do when they travel)
We miss you all. Thanks for reading!