Compact and bijou

Right, I’ve done Vientiane. In an afternoon. There’s not much to see and everything’s within walking distance.

So that’s the 19th-century monastery Wat Sisaket,



the museum of art and antiquities, Haw Pha Kaew

and Patouxai, Laos’s answer to the Arc de Triomphe, nicknamed 'the vertical runway' because it was built with concrete the US donated for an airport.


You can climb up it too.


Tomorrow: a little place called Vang Vieng.