The Laos New Year!

---

On the bus ride to Luang Prabang I met a bunch of people who were getting off the bus in a town about half way there, spending a few nights and then taking a boat down to Luang Prabang. It sounded a lot better than staying on that bus for another four hours so I jumped off with them. We ended up being pleasantly surprised by the scenery in the town, Nong Khiaw, which I had heard nothing about. We stayed in bungalows by the river which was surrounded by mountains. After two nights here we took the boat ride to Luang Prabang which was great. Throughout the whole ride, every time we passed children they would wave and scream Sa bai dii (hello). I think my arm got sore from all the waving that day. When we got to Luang Prabang it was the beginning of the Laos New Year which lasted longer than I expected. I had heard that the New Year is celebrated by throwing water at people in the streets, but I had no idea how intense it would be. The first morning on the way to breakfast I was hit by some children with waterguns. A little bit later I got drenched by a few buckets. By 11am it was a full out war. I had bought a watergun myself and was in the street soaking everyone I could. It was quite liberating hitting complete strangers, sometimes in the face, with water. It was a great time!! The next day we figured it would die down a bit, but again I was soaked on the way back from breakfast. This time I wasn't too pleased. After a day of walking around with dripping clothes I had enough, but once I started throwing a few buckets of water on some children's heads I was back in the game. The third day it was just as big but we managed to dodge most of the water as we were trying to see some of the sites of the city.

The next stop was Vang Vieng, which I heard was a city for backpackers. As you walk down the streets of Vang Vieng you the hear the familiar voices of Friends. Friends being Rachel, Monica, Pheobe, Ross, Joey and Chandler. In almost every restaurant there are TVs looping episodes of Friends. If you don't like the particular season they are playing in one place you just walk across the street to the next one. It is great! I would plan to watch one episode as I walked into these places but had to pry myself away after around five. Vang Vieng is also known for its' bar tubing which felt more like a spring break than Laos. Tubing went like this: I got on a tube, floated for about a minute then I was getting pulled into the first bar by a guy with a bamboo stick. It was really a lot more baring than tubing. Each bar is equipped with a tremendous rope swing or zip line that sends you flying into the river. It was no surprise that there were a few injuries that day, but we all managed to survived.

---

Photos

I think this is the spider that turns you into spiderman when you are bitten
i didnt take the chance