Vientiane

The first city on our Winter Break 2025-2026 trip through Laos was Vientiane (ວຽງຈັນ).

Quick language freebie: Both ວຽງຈັນ (Vientiane) and จันทบุรี (Chantaburi) mean more or less the same thing (either Fortress of the Moon, or Fortress of Sandalwood). ຈັນ / จันท is apparently a little ambiguous depending on which Sanskrit word you argue they derive from. If you drop the sometimes silent ท from the Thai จันท you also get a quick glimpse of how similar Laos (ຈັນ) and Thai (จัน) are.

Arriving by Train

Leaving Bangkok Christmas night we arrived in Nong Khai (หนองคาย) via the night train ready for a border crossing. We rode second class sleeper in the Special Express CNR (25) from Bangkok to Nong Khai. This was our first time on the newer CNR carriages. Wow! definitely an upgrade from what we’ve ridden previously (though it was even colder than other air conditioned trains we’ve been in).

We enjoyed a relaxed breakfast in the cool morning waiting for immigration on the Thai side to open.

Once immigration opened, we lined up, and boarded the boarder crossing train.

At immigration on the Laos side, we had a little extra adventure. Note to future border crossers: have adequate cash. Laos Immigration requires it, but no ATMs are present.

Patuxai

After dropping our bags at our hotel and a quick lunch, we walked to Victory Gate (Patuxai / ປະຕູໄຊ).

Houey Hong Center

We went straight from Victory Gate to Houey Hong Center where we did their half day dyeing and weaving workshop. We started with dyeing.

They showed us the plants their colors come from.

Believe it or not, the vibrant blues we achieved came from the leaves of the plant on the right.

Once our dyed pieces were hung up to dry, we got to do a little weaving.

On the way out, we were pleased to find some nice large leaves.

Laos National Museum

We spent a morning in the Laos National Museum (ຫໍພິພິຕະພັນແຫ່ງຊາດລາວ). We enjoyed seeing miscellaneous historical and cultural artifacts.

Food

Two places we particularly enjoyed eating were La Terrasse (French cuisine) and Cozy Corner (Vietnamese food including salt coffee and egg coffee) just north of Nam Phou Park.