Vientiane What to Pack

Luggage and bags: Good walking shoes/sandals
Lightweight jacket esp if weather is cold. Can be used on the long haul bus, in LP and VV where it is more mountaineous
Torchlight
Hat/cap/umbrella it can get hot and sunny,sunblock & sunglasses
Mozzie repellent-mossies weren't biting alot but there were a fair number hanging around outdoors,restaurants,guesthouses
Extra bag for shopping
Some first aid & paracetemol
Alarm clock/mobile phone to wake you up early in the morning esp alms giving&sunrise
Enuf batteries for camera
Adaptor-socket there is two pin round headed
*Most plug-ins are on the wall near switches (lights) so if you plug in adaptor followed by battery/mobile charger etc, it might fall off. Bring rubberband which can help avoid falling off incidents/bring smaller adaptor/ask guesthouse if they have any extension chord/sockets near the floor for u to charge.
Swimwear-if you go to the waterfalls/tubing along river
A smile
Bag for your shopping goodies

Essentials provided are continued in the next tip...

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Things that are provided/not so necessary
bathing towel-better to bring one small one in case
bathing soap provided by most or all guesthouses
t-shirts coz it is likely you might wanna purchase at least one Lao T-shirt.Laundry services around 10kk per kilo
Slippers-in the guesthouse rooms and toilets. Usually very clean so you can walkabout barefoot, let your feet breath
Toilet paper-provided
Blanket,pillow,soft mattress-provided

Luggage and bags: A backpack is the most practical bag to carry as you can easily get from one place to another without anyone helping you with suitcases.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Sandals are nice to keep cool but comfortable shoes with socks are better for walking as well as keeping mosquitos at bay.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Insect repellent is a must and women should carry tampons, especially away from the main cities.

Photo Equipment: A wide angle lens helps for taking photos of buildings, a polarizer helps reduce glare. A zoom is great for taking people photos without them knowing it.

Luggage and bags: A backpack will do the job.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Be prepared, it could be very cold (10 ´C) even in the dry season.
You can buy cheap warm clothes at the morning market - I bought a overall for just 7 $, a pair of trainers will be o.k.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: The medical care in Laos is not exactly what You can expect, if You get injured or being seriously ill for some reason, it is most likely that You will be transported to Thailand for care.
You can find some medicine in drugshops.
Bring Your own mosquitorepellant.
Dont forget an International Healthcard.
Carry Your own toiletpaper - most of the toilets has no paper

Photo Equipment: Vientiane has a lot of photoshops where you easily can make CD:s for 1 or 2 $, film is available everywhere (2 $ for codac 36 pics).
Vientiane has a lot of Internetcafe´s

Miscellaneous: It´s easy to get $ but it´s better to bring Your own - the exchange rates are not the best. The local currency - kip - is alright and easy to use. You can also use Thai Bath, it´s accepted everywhere.