Vientiane Hotels and Resorts - Laos Travel Guide
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Laos Travel Guide 
Vientiane
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Laos Travel Guide - Laos Hotels and Resorts ReservationVientiane is the capital and largest city of Laos, situated on the Mekong River near the border with Thailand. Vientiane became the capital in 1563 due to fears of a Burmese invasion. During French rule, Vientiane was the administrative capital and, due to economic growth in recent times, it has now become the economic centre of Laos. The estimated population of the city is 754,000 (2009). The city hosted the 25th Southeast Asian Games in December 2009 celebrating the 50 years of SEA Games. Origin of Name Many, if not most, Lao people claim that the city's name means "city of the moon", while many also claim correctly that the city's name means "city of sandalwood" because the words for 'moon' (ຈັນ or ຈັນທຣ໌ from chandra चन्द्र in Sanskrit) and 'sandalwood' (ຈັນ or ຈັນທນ໌ from chandana चन्दन in Sanskrit) are written and pronounced identically as 'chan' in modern Lao. However most academic and historic Lao sources do claim that the city's name does in fact mean "city of sandalwood". This is reinforced by the fact that the name of the city in Thai, เวียงจันทน์, and Khmer, វៀងចន្ទន៍, both retain the etymological spelling, which indicates "city of sandalwood." The romanized spelling "Vientiane" is of French origin, and reflects the difficulty the French had in pronouncing the hard "ch" sound in of the Lao language; a common English-based spelling is "Viangchan", or occasionally "Wiangchan". About Vientiane - Vientiane History - Vientiane Administration Laos Travel and Holidays Get FREE Travel Brochures Now! |
Laos Travel Guide Vientiane
Boo ActivitiesIf you want to get your neighbors in the Halloween spirit, be sure to engage them in a little game known as "Boo!" Its a popular game in some parts of the country, while in others, nobody has heard of it. You might live in a neighborhood where you think nobody will participate in a round robin type of event as this, but you might be surprised. Sometimes during the holidays people will step up and get involved where before they wouldnt. Its possible, anyway. More travel tips at Boo Activities
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