Between Mai and I we managed to get more pictures this time. I didn't want to grind the August blog page to a halt, so I am putting all the pictures here.

The entrance hallway to the Hotel Lao. Already brushing my head the ceiling gets shallower as we go on.	The most comfortable chair in the lobby happens to be hand carved out of solid wood.
The door to our room is right off the front desk. To the left you see one of the chairs in the lobby. They couldn't be harder or more uncomfortable if they were made out marble.	Sorry for the blurry picture, hands are noticeably shaky today. This is the front desk and very helpful Laotian that attended us.
The staircase front the second floor lobby to the third floor. Excellent woodwork.
Mai takes interest in a beauty salon as she might like to run one some day.	Another shot of the beauty salon.
Walking toward the Cultural Museum, the hotel I stayed at last trip is on the left.	Another road that caught my eye. A strange mix of better and worse.
Vientiane is the capital of Laos. The section of it I explored, which I think is the downtown area, is much quieter and less chaotic than Pattaya. It also looks much less posh.	Mom and Pop shops along the way.
Inside the Swedish Bakery. I had a real donut, Mai had a croissant that she felt was more doughy than the ones we enjoy in Pattaya.	At the end of the road the Hotel Laos is on, is the Laos Cultural Museum. The courtyard was open, the Museum was not.
A fountain outside the museum. Unfortunately not turned on.	The Front Entrance to the Cultural Museum.
The steps of Cultural Museum. Mai is there for scale.	Mai and the Museum doors. Notice the detail work.
Mai's Dinner at the same restaurant I had enjoyed on my last visit.	The Bill is presented in Kip (Laos), Baht (Thai), Euros and Dollars. Notice that dinner for two, appetizers, drinks and two imported magazines (The Economist) is only $13.71 USD.
I'm not sure what this is supposed to be. We called it the Penis Hedge.	Temple Guardian.
A bookstore between the Hotel and the River. If you get something from me from Laos, it came from here.	A simple curbside shop. Much like in Pattaya but also different. Mai buys 4 of the blocks on the left which is some sort of compressed banana wrapped in banana leaves.
A lot of the Governmental Offices are either done in a faux temple style or are set up in what used to be temples. Not sure which.	Approaching the river, the highway is easy to cross because of light traffic.
Approached from the other end, the ground is wider and there are many food markets on solid land.	A closer look at the markets.
One of the markets sells sweets. We both abstain.	As the land narrows, the markets become restaurants and move to platforms on stilts with walkways from the land.
On the river, a riverboat restaurant permanently moored.	Funny, when I took this photo I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought it was a totem. Now looking at it in Photoshop it is clearly a power saver light bulb with a plastic bag over it.
In between the riverfront eateries is a massage platform. Didn't partake but it looks really peaceful.	Laotians eating by the river. Also a good example of the digital zoom on Mai's camera as this picture is taken from the same spot as the previous picture.
Directly across the highway from the river, one of the more modern looking buildings. A shopping center, I think.	Another modern looking building. A governmental building.
Neither of us can remember where this is. Maybe the massage parlor, maybe the restaurant, probably somewhere else. But we like the woodwork.	A temple that is actually still as a temple.