When it comes to shopping malls, in Laos you don’t have nearly as many options as in Thailand. ActuallyVientiane is the only city where you’ll find a few. The biggest and most impressive one is the Vientiane Center Lao. It has a eight floors and plenty of space. Due to the economic situation of the country not even half of the available space is used. Still, you can definitely pass a few hours here. Let’s take a closer look at what this shopping mall has to offer.
What to do in the
Vientiane Center Lao
There are a variety of things you can do in the Center Lao Shopping Mall. Unlike most of the malls in the west it‘s not just a good destination for shopping. You can kind of compare it to a entertainment complex with lots of activities. Some of them are:
- A variety of food stalls and restaurants
- An arcade area with games
- A modern art museum
- A well equipped gym
- Different shops with all kinds of goods
- Places to repair your phone or other electronic devices
- Special events like book festivals
We won’t dig to deep into all of these things, since some are pretty self-explanatory and for others like the Trick Art Museum we have detailed articles. However, there are some things we should take a closer look at.
Fitness
World Gym
Unlike the shopping mall that looks a bit empty, the gym at the top floor totally doesn‘t. It’s very well-equipped and during peak times, there are lots of people training there. Most of them are locals, but you might also see a few tourists. In addition to plenty of machines for cardio and all kinds of muscle groups there‘s a boxing ring in the middle. A day pass for the gym costs around 80.000 kip, what is around three and a half dollars.
Food Republic
The Food Republic is a typical food court. Here you can buy cheap and local food. If you want some noodles or a rice dish you have plenty of choices. There are also stalls with popular fast food like burgers, french fries or pizza. Like with many other food courts you’ll have to charge a card at the cashier. This card you can use to pay for food and beverages at the different stalls. If any money is left you just give the card back and you‘ll get the change. Outside of the food court there are plenty of stores from popular brands like Dairy Queen or Shiba Hokkaido.
Yuyuto
Playground
Even the Yuyuto Playground has many activities for kids, it‘s visitors are people of all ages. You can play all kinds of arcade games here and also claw machines or similar prize-winning games – the selection of claw machines is really huge. There are also bouncy castles and ball pits. Some popular arcade machines you can play are Deadstorm Pirates, Frost Island and Rambo. Those three are really fun if you‘re there with a friend or your partner.
Where
is the Vientiane Center Lao located?
As the biggest shopping mall in the whole country the Vientiane Center is unsurprisingly located in the center of the capital. If you’re around the the Patuxai, the Presidental Palace or another sight near the Lane Xang Avenue you’ll just have to walk like twenty minutes and you’ll get there. If you don‘t want to walk, just take a taxi or tuk tuk. Unless you‘re too naive they won’t charge a lot. After all, the drive just takes a few minutes.