For anybody coming from Vietnam – and especially scam capital Hanoi – Laos is just amazingly peaceful. Vientiane, the capital, actually feels more like a village, or let’s say a very very small city. To give you an idea of how little developed Laos is, in the whole country there is no shopping mall (how refreshing) and only one cinema (and we’re not talking multiplex – it only has one screen), which we could actually never find. One great activity to do in Vientiane though is go to the little known public swimming pool. For about 50 cents you can lay down all day in the sun, swim around, and eat the local specialty, perfect crossover between colonial influences and local culture: delicious sandwiches made with french bread, pork and vegetable.