"Leaving paradise" Traveese's photos around Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

A TripAdvisorâ„¢ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep by TravelPod blogger Traveese titled "Leaving paradise" Traveese's travel blog entry: "Hello all. For most of you it is cold, and I'm sorry about that. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season though, and the impending new year. And having a break. Tonight I'm leaving Laos, which is sad. I had been planning to see so many other places, but I really just got stuck here. In the north. I haven't even seen the whole country! After Luang Prabang, I went south to Vang Vieng with a friend I made from California. The bus ride was only 200 km or so, but it took about five or seven hours, as we were driving twenty or thirty miles an hour up and down mountain passes, along cliffs, and whatnot, on a road (the only road) that was full of potholes to swerve around and huge buses to avoid. But the view from these roads was really amazing--I dare say it was the most gorgeous panorama I've ever seen in my life, just mountain after mountain, dotted with clouds. It just looked perfect, made the trip worthwhile. Vang Vieng, in Lonely Planet parlance, is a "backpackers' haven." What this meant was at first shocking. When we arrived in this small town, almost every building was a guesthouse. Every guesthouse had a restaurant on the ground floor, and every restaurant had a television, and every television was playing different episodes of "Friends." No, it's true. But I quickly figured out that the fun of ...