PatuXay Gate in Vientiane, Laos

Well, I can't really say that there is tons to do in Vientiane, but we managed to stay busy for couple of days while we waited for our Cambodian visa to process. One of our stops was at the 'Arc de Triomphe - esque' PatuXay. A decent viewpoint from the top, but not a lot to see.
We managed to fit in a herbal sauna and Laos massage at a temple in town, along with a visit to the spectacular gold stupa of Wat That Luang, which glowed fabulously at sunset.
Another day, and more wats. Vat Sisaket with it's more than 7000 Buddha images. Ho Prakeo, which was originally built by the royals to house the Emerald Buddha (which is now in the Palace in Bangkok), so it is now a small museum of Buddha relics. We tried to sneak in to the Presidential Palace for a photo, but the guard didn't like that too much.
We took a good motorbike ride to an island which was much more like the 'real' Laos, with locals in little huts. We stopped for beers on the river, before finding a beautiful sunset bar, where we watched all the kids wading across the Mekong to a sand island where they were playing football/soccer. We finished off hanging out with Chris, Claude and another friend James at the homestead. A good time in the capital. *Stub