This morning I dined on fresh pastries around town, and then headed off to the local bus station to grab a bus to Vang Vieng. When I got to the bus station, I was approached by a man who asked where I was going. I told him that I was headed to Vang Vieng, but that I was alright finding the bus on my own, and didn't need his help. He helped me anyways, and it's a good thing he was there because I would have had some difficulty finding the bus. I expected him to ask for a tip, but as soon as he showed me the bus he walked away. That would have NEVER happened in Cambodia or Vietnam. I like the people here.
Throughout Vientiane there are tour companies offering a bus service to Vang Vieng on a VIP bus for 60,000 kip. The local bus I opted to take was 30,000 kip (about $3.50), half the price! I wish I had taken a photo of the bus. It was an old schoolbus painted blue and green on the sides, with luggage piled on the roof. I sat down in a seat, and watched all of the seats around me fill up. When we left the station every seat was filled, and the spot next to me was reserved for the last person to hop on the bus. It was like the American tourist had a disease - very funny. There were handholds dangling from the ceiling if people needed to stand for the 4-hour bus ride, but luckily nobody needed to stand.
The bus ride was surprisingly uneventful. Whenever somebody needed to hop off, they would yell out to the bus driver right when he was passing their home. He would slam on the brakes, passing the house by a hundred yards or so. (I actually have no clue where the person actually wanted to get dropped off, it just appeared that they would yell out at the last second). I don't know why they didn't warn the driver a minute before their stop.
On the bus, I got a good view of Lao houses and towns. The country appears richer than Cambodia. Many of the houses look like 'actual' houses - they're made out of cement, rather than the bungalows on stilts common throughout Cambodia. However, from what I saw, the country is much less densely populated than Vietnam, and the slash and burn agriculture is very evident. I haven't seen obvious slash and burn in Cambodia or Vietnam. Well, I may have seen some in Cambodia, and I definitely saw fires at night in Vietnam, but not on the massive scale I saw while riding on the bus to Vang Vieng. Supposedly the slash and burn is so 'bad' (well, that's a relative term depending on who you talk to), that Luang Prabang will be in a cloud of smoke when I arrive there.
When I arrive in Vang Vieng, I was met by the usual crowd of tuk-tuks wanting to give me a ride into town. I chose to walk, and spent a solid two hours investigating all of the guesthouses, looking for the best combination of cheap and clean. As I was walking around, I came upon a lady selling kabobs with chicken, tomatoes, and onions. They looked wonderful, so I bought one for 25 cents. The 'tomato' turned out to be a chunk of fat, as did the 'onion'. The 'chicken' must have been liver, but was so tough I couldn't chew it. I should have learned my lesson with kabobs in Bangkok, as I repeated that mistake. I have seen more kabob stands around town, but not once have I seen a tourist with a kebab in hand. Don't they understand that westerners don't like chunks of fat and liver on their kebabs?
I finally settled on a guesthouse for 40,000 kip a night ($4.50). Not a bad deal. I then set out to further explore this most interesting of tourist towns. Vang Vieng is arguably more of a tourist town than Siem Reap, well, they're at least comparable. Although locals live in the town, the entire center is devoted to tourists. One main street is lined with restaurants that all look identical. The tables in the rstaurants are accompanied by looong benches that act as beds so you can essentially lie down while eating, and lie down while watching endless re-runs of 'Friends'. Yep, that's right. This town is as touristy as it gets, and most restaurants begin a season of 'Friends early in the morning, and by nighttime the season is almost finished (I've been told this is incredibly frustrating as you never get to see the end of a full season). Who the hell comes to Laos to sit in a restaurant all day and watch 'Friends'?
Needless to say, I haven't stopped to watch an episode of 'Friends' yet. But even if you don't like that TV show, some of the cafes play movies at night! I'm spending my night blogging instead (at 300 kip a minute! yikes! that's $2.20 an hour! expensive). After this I'm going to go check out Dong Khang island, where there are four or five bars on a little island in the river that is accessible by a small bamboo bridge.
For dinner tonight I went to a restaurant and joined a group of six kids my age that were taking a year off of school to travel around Asia. Very cool. I ordered beef 'laap', which is cubed beef flavored with a Lao fish sauce, mint, and other spices, accompanied by a 660 ml Beerlao, all for $4.
Well, I'm off to check out the party scene, but I can't party too hard because tomorrow morning I get up to go climbing through "Adam's Climbing School"! Should be fun!
Laos' Flag
Map of Laos