So many people say that there’s nothing to do in Vientiane but the thing is, there are a couple of things to do. Coming from Thailand to Laos, some differences were definitely felt. I have also talked about it a couple of times but now, I began to appreciate how things work around here. Although there are still things that are quite surprising to me such as the ghost mall and also Patuxai, one of the famous landmarks in Laos.

In this post, I’ll take you around in this walk exploring all those places and let you know how it is in other places and you can see what I meant by a ghost mall in Vientiane.

Patuxai Arc ( The Arc de Triomphe of South East Asia)

Being a war monument, it’s interesting that this has a funny story behind how it’s built. The humor is that this monument was built with the American funds which should have been used to build a new airport. But the government has a better plan: they build a monument to commemorate their fights against the French to gain independence. This monument is something that you should never miss when visiting Laos as this is one of the landmarks along with That Luang, a golden temple in the north of Vientiane.

This monument is surrounded by a park and also a very important government building - which honestly looks like a parliament building and also some ministries that are written in French. The monument itself has a marvellous touch to it with Asian twist and Hindu deities in the centre of the monument. However, like in the previous link attached, there is also Buddhist influence in the building. It’s simply unfortunate that there are not that many board signs that could explain the monument where we can learn about it.

In this Patuxai park, we can also see a Gong, an Indonesian musical instrument in this big park.

The Gong is basically a gift from the Indonesian government and as a symbol of World Peace. At least for this one, they have some signs on it though again, I don’t know why the Indonesian government gives them this World Peace Gong but it can be assumed that both countries have a good relationship.

It was really hot that day and though I enjoyed the walk, it was just not much to see around nor any sellers that intrigued me. I was hoping to find some knicks knacks but sadly, none of the sellers were there. Not to mention, the gate to go up was also closed so I couldn’t see this park from above which was actually my original plan when visiting the area. I wanted to see vientiane from up above. I stayed there for more than 20 minutes until it was time to go. I wanted to explore the surrounding areas and eventually, not far from Patuxai, lies some shopping centres. These places are frequented not only by locals but also curious Falang (foreigners). However, do not expect that things will be quite the same as any other capital in the world, let alone Thailand. These malls are quite underwhelming but charming on their own. It shows the progress that this capital has attempted to make which I assume in about 2-3 years the place will be bustling with shopping malls and visitors. I hope that to be the case as there are some parts in country called the Golden Triangle which is like the Las Vegas of South East Asia.

Parkson Mall and Vientiane Center

Parkson mall has many things imported from Thailand and also a few luxury brands shops. It’s not a shopping mall that you’d expect. Once you enter the place, you can see how empty the place is and also a few brands that are occupying the spaces. One in particular that piqued my interest was definitely Starbucks. It was recently opened and it’s the only Starbucks in Laos. There are also some Thai brands around the area that you can check out especially for the food and drinks. However, other than that, there’s not really much to see inside the shopping mall. Leave the idea of a shopping mall and only then you can appreciate going inside a Parkson and vientiane centre. Other than eating, there’s not that many things to do inside of it. That is why I was calling it a ghost mall as essentially there aren't that many things inside the shopping malls.

Le Cattitude

To end the day, I decided to walk through Le Cattitude, a cat cafe where you can sit and play with cats as long as you want.

The cafe serves cappuccino with a cat art latte and amazing brownies.

You can see many beautiful cats as well and I got many awesome shots of the cats in the area. That is also my first time going to a cat cafe after a while and in Thailand I was going to Rabbit Cafe instead of a Cat Cafe. Since I was missing my cat, it was just the right place to go.

More Le Cat Pictures

That activity could be a typical day in Vientiane where you visit one famous landmark, go back to the city centre and take shelter from the heat of Vientiane in either a shopping mall or cafe. And enjoy the evening with cats or perhaps walk along the Mekong river to wait for the sunset.