The Forgotten Land, Laos Part 1: Vientiane

As described by most guidebooks, Laos is much referred to as "forgotten". While having essences of Thailand and Vietnam influence, it is Thailand without the over commercialisation and Vietnam less the traffic and noise. A truly laidback environment with charming people and quite a nice change from the pace of Vietnam and Thailand.

Day 1
Having spent 3 days in the new capital, Vientiane is fairly quiet and quite small city with most of attraction being within walking distance from most accommodation you'll find and very easy to explore the city within a day if one chooses to do so.

After flying in from Vientiane from KL and feeling sleep deprived, my first order of business was to put in a solid nap before exploring the city nightlife. My first stop being the night market, located by the Mekong River and a short walk from my hostel, which also provided a nice opportunity to see the sunset.

Sunset by the Mekong River in Vientiane

Sunset by the Mekong River in Vientiane overlooking Thailand in the horizon.

Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

After many goodbyes and farewells, my journey to KL began on a 2nd class sleeper overnight train ride from Woodlands Train Checkpoint, Singapore to KL Sentral, Malaysia. This involved an 8 hour train ride which was bumpy at times. It didn't help with people constantly snoring. Besides that, the train ride was quite pleasant and comfortable ride with the train arriving promptly in KL at 7.30am.

2nd class sleeper cabin