Me and Phil are having a blast in Laos. It's really beautiful, and laid back. We like it more than Thailand! Which is funny b/c Thailand is supposed to be the best place to travel. We already have our tickets back to Thailand set and a hotel reserved for New Year's, or else we'd just stay here longer! Oh well, that's the drawback of being well organized and planning ahead! My new golden traveling rule is…. Never Book Ahead! Second only to: Never Take A Tuk Tuk!!!
We have a little cabin to ourselves, with a view of a peaceful river on one side, and a view of breathtaking, dramatic peaked mountains out the other window. On our porch, which faces the sunrise, we have a hammock and a bench. There's cows and chickens who live on the property, and yesterday, we saw one cow eating the laundry off the clothes line! The town we're in is really peaceful, and quiet, but yet its got lots of restaurants, bars, and activities, like hiking, trekking, kayaking, etc. Everything is really cheap to do. I got 700,000 out of the ATM machine and it converted to less than $90 US. Most stuff costs 10,000-20,000 kip. Our private cabin is $8 a night!
Most restaurants are set up with low tables and cushions and mattresses, so you can eat and lounge. Lots of them play American movies or TV shows, so we've had a few meals where we watch Friends or Family Guy for 2+ hours while laying down and relaxing.
The roads are mostly dirt and rocks, and there’s cows that roam everywhere. It’s really rural, and super relaxing. There’s lots of travelers here, but its got a small town vibe, b/c we keep meeting the same people. Today, we're going to go kayaking down the river. Should be lots of fun!
Plenty of people come here for the tubing... which is a huge party on the river- daily! There's bars on each side, and they entice you to go there with free shots and food. Their method of getting you there is you float past on your tube and they throw a bottle on a rope to you and pull you in like a drunken fish! There's jumps, ropes, zip lines and slides to blast you into the water (soooo dangerous!) which were the cause of many injured people hobbling around Vang Vieng on crutches and with patches of skin missing, I'm sure! Its a really fun way to spend a day- music, friendly people, and drinks set to the clean beautiful natural background... and techno music!
I'm actually sad to be leaving this place to go back to Thailand... what started out as a border run to extend my Thai visa ended up to be a huge highlight out of everywhere else I've been: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines!
