Vientiane, Laos
The first time I came to Vientiane in the 1990s it felt like a dusty out-sized town, rather than a capital city. The roads were unmetalled apart from a few hundred metres around the centre, and traffic lights were unnecessary. Things are changing quickly now - the arrival of an air-conditioned shopping mall is portentous to say the least. There is still a charm to the old oriental outpost, but you have to search harder to find it. Check out the blog post.
Some used to say that Laos was like Thailand thirty years ago. Better hurry if you want to visit though, it's catching up fast.
