After 2 nights we left on a 4.30pm Lao airlines flight, not before spending 2 hours at the Vientiane international airport of similar stature again to Canberra’s airport. When we booked the tickets we were told we’d be on ATR prop plane, which we know are very reliable and have been without incident for the last 20 years. Always good to know considering Lao airlines in the past may have had some shady incidents with some older planes. We walked onto the tarmac past 2 ATR’s to then board (while muttering that the man at the ticket office may have deceived us) a significantly smaller MA60 prop plane. I was genuinely scared, it only had 15 rows, it wasn’t an ATR, I am a bad flier. Dave was more positive about the aircraft, noting with a smirk that the tires were bald. Take off was efficient, smooth and quick, the flight was smooth, comfortable and also quick, landing was outrageously fast, bouncy and terrifying, but I am told as small planes do not have turbines to slow them down they do land in a hurry. Didn’t help that the French group of oldies shrieked as we bounced down the tarmac.
Wat That Dam - a view from a Tuk Tuk, it sits in the middle of a quiet roundabout near the centre of Vientiane.
Our Tuk Tuk dropping us off at the airport
An actual ATR that we took a photo of, before we thought we would board it
Dave walking up to our MA60, hmmmm perhaps a little dramatic, it's not that small
