Abby and my brief stop in Vientienne was just enough. We had a great time walking around and checking out the sights, but after our “enchanting” Luang Phabang experience and with Cambodia looming, we were anxious to get to our next stop.

Our first night we went down to the Mekong and checked out all the hundreds of food carts lined up and down the river bank. Vendors were frying up Mekong Fish and other street meat items on portable grills and stoves and serving them to folks lined up at nice candlelit, table-cloth-draped seating areas by the river. Despite our immediate attraction to the ambiance, my hypochondria and over-cautiousness about protecting my ‘falong’ stomach kicked in as I passed the cooking areas and noticed no ice for fish or meat, cleavers dripping with mystery goo, and rotting eggs.

We looked up and spotted a restaurant located across the street, 4 stories up on a roof, checked the prices and headed upstairs. Upon arrival we noticed a fully stocked bar with American music playing in the background, along with a fantastic view of the city and river. We shrugged our shoulders and started ordering the $1 pitchers they had for happy hour.

We wandered around the bustling city the next day, eating Laos food and taking in the sights. We had a delicious lunch where I slurped down an enormous bowl of tom ka gai while sipping on the coldest 7up I have ever had. We briefly checked out an open market and found animal brains, livers, hooves, and skulls among other delectables, and took a tuk-tuk ride next to a man on a motorbike dangling 15 or so upside down live chickens from his handle bars. Abby couldn’t stop laughing, and neither could I, in a mixture of utter shock and pity. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the video out in time.

The next night, we took a *free* boat cruise down the Mekong, while being served dinner and drinks (that part wasn’t free, but it was cheap). I had my new favorite: fried eggs over french fries and soy sauce, and Abby had the spiciest fried vegetables in the history of spicy fried vegetables. The views from the boat were great - we didn’t realize just how LONG Vientienne was along the river. We passed dozens of cute, dimly lit bars and restaurants all along the river bank, and decided that maybe we could have handled a few extra days in the city. But the next morning we caught an early flight out of Laos and onto Cambodia.