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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.

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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.