Vientiane or Yangon?

Neither city is anywhere to swim, and in both a dip means a hotel pool. The difference is what lies beyond. From Vientiane, the river and lagoons around Vang Vieng are an easy day out by train, though that is freshwater bathing, not a beach. Yangon has real sea beaches at Chaung Tha and Ngwe Saung on the Bay of Bengal, but they are a long drive away and need several nights of their own.

Both cities have cheap, distinctive local food, and Yangon has the slightly wider range. Vientiane's eating is Lao: sticky rice by the basket, larb, pounded papaya salad and grilled river fish, plus baguette breakfasts left over from French rule and strong Bolaven coffee. The best of it is at the grill stalls along the Mekong at dusk.

Yangon's food starts in the tea shops with mohinga, palata and sweet milky tea, then moves on to Burmese curries with their side dishes and laphet thoke. The Indian and Chinese quarters add biryani, dosa and dim sum, and the skewer stalls on 19th Street give it the variety Vientiane lacks.

Yangon is clearly ahead here. The Shwedagon is one of the great religious sites of Asia, a gilded stupa you walk round barefoot as the light fades. Around the Sule Pagoda, the downtown grid of the Secretariat, the High Court and the weathered Strand riverfront adds a whole colonial city to explore.

Vientiane's sights are on a smaller scale. Pha That Luang, the Buddha-lined cloister of Wat Si Saket, the COPE story of unexploded bombs and the odd concrete figures of Buddha Park make a rewarding day or two, but there is no landmark to match the Shwedagon and no historic quarter of the same size.

Both cities go quiet early, and neither is worth choosing for its nights. In Vientiane the evening means Beerlao at a riverside table as the sun sets over Thailand, then a few backpacker bars or a club playing Lao and Thai pop. Yangon's equivalent is a draught beer in a beer station with football on the screens, the crowds and grills of 19th Street, or a hotel rooftop bar.

Vientiane has far more of the outdoors within reach. An hour north by train, Vang Vieng's karst peaks offer caves, climbing, tubing and balloon flights. Phou Khao Khouay has waterfalls and forest trails, the Nam Ngum reservoir is dotted with islands, and the rice fields on the city's edge are easy to cycle in the dry months.

Yangon sits on flat delta land with no hills or trails nearby. Its nature is the boardwalk at Kandawgyi Lake with the Shwedagon in view, evening walks by Inya Lake, the old park at Hlawga and the river ferries.

Vientiane has the better day trips, thanks to the railway north. Luang Prabang, with its temples, monks and French villas, is about two hours away, and quiet Vang Vieng is half that. Across the Friendship Bridge, Nong Khai has the strange sculpture garden of Sala Keoku, though the border adds time.

From Yangon the main outing is Bago, a former royal capital with the Shwemawdaw Pagoda and a huge reclining Buddha, about two hours by road or rail. Twante's pottery kilns and the island pagoda at Kyauktan are closer. The Golden Rock needs an overnight stay.

Neither is an easy place with children, though Vientiane is a little gentler. Its streets are calm, traffic is light and the giant statues of Buddha Park tend to delight children, but beyond a small water park there is little else. Yangon has a zoo, a small amusement park and the lawns of People's Park, but the heat is fiercer and the traffic heavier and more chaotic. It works best with older children who enjoy temples and markets.

Neither city has a metro, and in both the centre can be walked if you put up with patchy, cluttered pavements, so there is little between them. Vientiane's centre is compact, with the temples, riverfront and markets a few blocks apart, and the traffic is light enough that a rented bicycle is a pleasant way to reach Pha That Luang, while Buddha Park further out calls for a tuk-tuk or ride-hailing car.

Yangon's colonial grid is just as walkable, and keeping motorbikes out of the centre makes it calmer than you might expect. Beyond the grid, though, the city sprawls, so taxis and ride-hailing do the work, cheaply but slowly in heavy traffic. The Circular Railway is a slow loop for watching daily life, not a way to get anywhere.

The shopping is about equal, but what you take home differs. In Vientiane it is cloth: handwoven Lao silk and cotton in patterns specific to each ethnic group, sold in small weaving galleries and at Talat Sao and the riverside night market. Yangon's focus is Bogyoke Aung San Market, a colonial hall of jade, rubies, Bagan lacquerware, puppets and longyi, where you bargain and buy gems with care. Neither offers much in the way of fashion.

Both are cheap, and Vientiane goes further. Guesthouses, comfortable mid-range hotels, noodle soup, massages and tuk-tuks all cost little, and only imported wine and polished hotels push the bill up. In Yangon, tea-shop meals, taxis and most pagodas are inexpensive too. Hotels of international standard cost noticeably more than the rest of a stay, so the room is where a Yangon budget goes.

Neither city has much of a stage, and they are much alike here. Vientiane offers evening shows of Lao dance with the khaen mouth organ and a few cover bands. Yangon has marionette theatre and classical dance dinner shows, such as those at the barge-shaped Karaweik Palace. Its all-night zat pwe at pagoda festivals is the more unusual experience, but it is hard to track down.

Vientiane is the more restful city by a wide margin. Its Lao herbal saunas, wooden steam rooms scented with lemongrass and tamarind beside temples such as Wat Sok Pa Luang, end with herbal tea and a massage. Massage shops line the centre, and the slow pace by the Mekong does the rest.

Yangon's strength lies elsewhere. Firm Burmese massage is easy to find, and centres such as Mahasi let foreigners join vipassana meditation for days or weeks. Outside the quiet early hours at the Shwedagon or by Inya Lake, though, the city is too hot and noisy to unwind in.