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Mixed-up fortune faces the urban sprawl.

Vientiane tours, according to those Laos travel enthusiasts, always evoke some emotional mixture. Vientiane's withstood history mixed up with fortunes and misfortunes, which makes this city stand strongly on its ground while facing today's urbanization flocking. The surrounding alluvial plains in Vientiane around the Mekong River are so fertile that Lao people couldn't think of moving anywhere else once they settled in the 9th century. During most of the time, Vientiane has enjoyed the position of the national major regional center. However, the history of being controlled and periodic invasions by the Vietnamese, Burmese and Siamese wasn't quite enjoyable. And attempts to assert Lao independence sometimes resulted in even more violent and destructive episode in Vientiane's history. The colonial times were tough too. Arrived in late 19th, the French explorers made the capital out of Vientiane. And the reconstruction began. A simple grid plan was laid out for the city and a sprinkling of colonial-style mansions and administrative buildings emerged. During the WWII and Cold War, Vientiane was home to an ethnical mixture of Lao, French, American and Vietnamese, with the population growing vigorously. The arrival of the Pathet Lao (PL) in 1975 changed Vientiane. And the city settled into a slumber punctuated by occasional unenthusiastic concessions to communism, including low level collectivization and an initial crack-down on Buddhism. Things picked up in the 1990s and in recent years Vientiane has seen a relative explosion of construction, road redevelopment and vehicular traffic. Vientiane Tourism is on the rise, and the city is facing some serious urbanization sprawl. Today, a Vientiane vacation can give you a quick scan of its mixed past and thriving today.