Vientiane night market after a storm

The journey to Vientiane is a bit of a nightmare.  We are picked up 45 minutes late and taken to the bus station just as the VIP bus is leaving!!  There are 13 of us here and we are told it was overbooked and we'll be taking a mini bus ... great.  The mini bus arrives with just enough space for all of us and our luggage.  We draw the short straw and are in the backseats next to the luggage with not even enough room to lean back properly.  Luckily the journey is only a few hours but Fred's claustrophobia is not happy.  

Anyway, we arrive in one piece and go to our hotel which is quite nice ... we risked Agoda again as they are sorting out the other issue and booked in advance.  On arrival the receptionist looks slightly panicked and can't seem to find our reservation but its fine and we check in.  We're just about to go out and the heavens open so we stay in and watch the lightning.  As it clears we head down to the river front.  There is a bustling night market and lots of bars and restaurants and it has a nice vibe.  We're pleased as we hadn't head good reports but we kind of like it on first impressions.

The heavens open again as we eat dinner and then again as we're trying to find our way back to the hotel ... third time unlucky we get soaked!