Today was our second proper day of exploring central V-town, which given it's size should cover it off nicely. First stop was the Patuxai monument, built to commemorate the war for Independence from France. Which is apparently why it looks like the Arc de Triomphe. It was also built with funds and cement donated from the US, for building a new runway. I can imagine that was an awkward state visit.

Exploration of other temples, a hidden pagoda, iced coffee and laughing at the ludicrous electricity set up followed...

Onwards towards the shopping mall, as we still needed some essentials (does anywhere in Asia sell deodorant not intent on whitening your armpits?) and the other mall was a bit of a bust. There is 3 on a very short bit of road, one very local market style one, another a little more upmarket and then a super fancy one. Better to hit that one last when we've already bought everything.

The local market was as expected, thousands of vendors selling tens of products. Including a really interesting set of vendors which only sold bulk lots of old school tv and air conditioning remotes. Useful, but I'm not really sure why people need a bulk lot.

The slightly more upmarket one was a little better. Few interesting shops but, at the end of the day, a bit boring. 

The final upmarket one looked very cool from the outside, it even had a huge inflatable water play area outside for kids. However, when we went in, that all changed. This super fancy mall, with doormen, cleaners and everything had about 6 shops actually open. A few clothes vendors, a plumbing shop and (randomly) a really fancy furniture store covering almost the entirety of the 4th floor. But in between the ground and 4th floor; nothing. Pretty creepy. Felt more like a zombie apocalypse experience than a shopping mall.

So we very swiftly headed back to the hotel, via one of the older more authentic attractions in Vientiane, the Black Stupa (or That Dam). It is literally in the middle of a roundabout. The locals believe a 7 headed Naga lives in it, who protected them from a Siamese invasion in 1827.