Laos, Laos, Laos!

Vientiane -- March 2, 2010

We started off the morning in the capital city of Laos by taking our motorbike across a rickity bridge to Don Chan Island, which is a strip of land in the middle of the river. The wooden bridge just seemed to be composed of various strips of wood, but the locals were going across so we figured we just do as the locals do...just at a slower pace. There was a definite difference in lifestyles from the mainland, with the quaint village people going about their daily lives and the more up-paced city people of Vientiane. However, up-paced in Laos is still relatively laid back compared to some of the other countries we have been. The people here are pretty laid back in general, and in most instances you have to approach a tuk-tuk driver for a ride, rather than the driver yelling at you across from the street to offer you a ride.

We also visited Pha That Luang, which is the national monument for Laos. There were many important public events and announcements made here and is still a main area for Lao people to come. The golden Buddhist stupa was first constructed in the 3rd century and underneath several reconstructions throughout the following centuries. The wat was originally in Luang Prabang, but was moved to Vientiane by the king in the 16th Century. There was also a Buddhist temple with various ornate paintings on the ceilings within the same grounds as Pha That Luang.

In the afternoon, we meant to go to the National History Museum, but ended up going to the 'Army National History Museum' by mistake. However, the information was in basic English, so we could read most of the photographed exhibits and timeline of the army events from WWI to present. It was especially interesting to read about the conflict with the US forces from 1956 to 1965 and how most of the countries surrounding Vietnam got involved in the 'War Against the American Imperialists' (AKA Vietnam War in the states), because of the North Vietnamese trying to move west into Cambodia and Laos; however, the people here are still so kind even though they experienced a lot of damage from the US bombs that were dropped here.

We took the motorbike for an afternoon ride to some areas outside of town that were still only dirt roads. The dust was pretty strong from the large trucks and motorbikes going by, but they tried to control it by wetting down the roads with some water. We found some children playing in an irrigation canal, which looked so refreshing because of the hot and humid conditions.

That evening we found a traditional Chinese restaurant (it seems there are many Chinese people living here) and Alex found some of his favorite Chinese dishes from Shijiazhuang of fried potatoes and Gun Bow Jading -- the best part was that it tasted almost exactly like we remembered!

Vang Vieng - March 3-5, 2010

We took the local bus from Vientiane to Vang Vieng and as always it was an experience in itself. Ten minutes after loading our bus at the city bus station, our bus pulled over on the side of the road and we loaded onto another bus for the rest of the journey. Then one of the toilet stops we made was out in the middle of nowhere and we used the 'natural toilet'; but at least it was free of charge.

Vang Vieng is a town on the way to Luang Prabang and has grown to be quite the tourist attraction for its tubing down the river. It also has some beautiful scenery in the area with many limestone mountains near the river. When we arrived we found a hostel (Thavisout Resort) which consisted of several bungalow cabins. However, best part was the direct view over the river from their restaurant, which served museli, fruit and yogurt for breakfast, which Kristin was excited about. Then in the afternoon we decided to do the tubing trip and went to the company to rent our tubes for 55,000 Kip each (1 USD=8,500 Kip). They took us to a point up the river and the tuk tuk dropped us off there. Immediately, there were 4 to 5 riverside bars that try to pull you into their bar by throwing out a string with a water bottle attached and then reel you in. Each of the bars has music playing and either a swing, zipline or slide. As you travel further down the river there are about 5 to 7 more bars, each one trying to entice you to come into their bar. We did a swing at the Jungle Bar, but as Alex fell in he hit his face certain way so that the top of his lip inside his mouth started to bleed. The bleeding was shortlived, but would be re-injuried later down the river when he went off of a big slide and smashed into the water. In fact, with that injury he chipped one of his bottom teeth as well. He definitely earned some battle wounds from that river! However, overall the trip was a lot of fun and we met a few other travelers. It is crazy how many people go on this tubing trip though -- probably around 200 per day. The tubing company must be making fortune! After the sun went behind the mountains it was a little cool floating down the cold river water, so we climbed out only about 1 km from where we started grabbed a tuk tuk back to the tube rental company.

The next day we were a little sore so we slept in. We thought we would go check out this Blue Lagoon, but when we got there it was almost a swamp and the water wasn't flowing so we didn't like the thought of swimming in that. So we headed back for round 2 of the river tubing. However, this time it was a much tamer trip down the river and we just stopped at one place for a Pepsi and a few trips down their slide. We actually made it all the way back to town as well with some extra paddling with our sandals on our hands for a flipper-type effect. The river is pretty low at this time of the year, so there were some areas where it was pretty shallow and the water didn't flow as quickly. We even tubed right by a herd of water buffalo bathing in the river.

In the evening, we decided to get a traditional Lao massage because of the pain we had put our bodies through for the past couple of days. A traditional Lao massage uses the energy point throughout your body to create a soothing effect, it also seemed to have a lot of stretching componenets instead of the traditional rubbing in a Swedish massage. The massage was very nice and was only 35,000 kip for a full body for an hour. They used a cream that acted and smelled like icy-hot, which I'm sure our muscles appreciated.

For the next leg of our trip to Luang Prabang, it would be on a very winding road and would take about 6-8 hours, if the bus didn't break down. So we thought we would hedge our bets and book through our hostel for the supposed AC bus. However, they took us on the tuk tuk to the town bus station and we loaded the local bus, which was NOT air conditioned, unless you count natural air flow as AC... After we arrived we had to wait about 45 minutes for another bus to arrive with additional foreigners that were going to be taking the bus to Luang Prabang. We stopped at a few places along the way and for some of these hillside villages, we think make most of their money from the bus travelers that stop there to go to the bathroom (2000 Kip for basically a hole) and for snack food. The roads were winding and bumpy and the sides of the road were dirt, so with the windows opened the dirt started to cover us inside the bus. However, we made it in one piece without any breakdowns by about 5:30-6:00 that evening and were able to find a hosel for 70,000 Kip per night. After some showers we went to a riverside restaurant and tried some of the local specialties including pumpkin soup in coconut milk and Luang Prabang Mixed Stew with sticky rice. The stew was a bit spicy, but the pumpkin soup was made with green pumpkins and was more accustomed for our North American tastebuds.