Climbing, Caving, and Motorbike Riding

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Well things have remained interesting in the last couple of days. After writing my last blog I did indeed get my Laos herbal massage. It was a mix of stretching, aromatherapy, chiropractor, massaging, and placing bags of hot herbs over my body. Obviously enjoyable. Then I had one of the most romantic dinners of my life....by myself. Picture a little french bistro overlooking a fountain in central Vientiane with light French music in the background. One of the better oven-baked thin crust pizzas I've ever had too.

The next morning I took the bus up to Vang Vieng about 4 hours away. Vang Vieng is a tourist stop for multiple reasons. The first night I got in a sweatily (I was carrying all of my things) found the first guesthouse that had one bed. When I'm tired and sweaty and just want a shower I sometimes overpay for one night. It's still pretty cheap but I definitely moved the next day. I went and booked a tour for the day and walked around for a bit when it started to pour (it is rainy season here). I went back to my room only to find that the power was out. A group of Laotian college students was playing volleyball across the street. I threw on my bathing suit and heading out into the downpour to see if I could join. The volleyball was a really high quality and I asked if I could play with them. After a couple of "wait until the next game" I figured out why they wouldn't let me join. They were playing for money! I watched them anyways for a while and then headed inside to dry off. After a quick dinner I headed to bed.

I had booked a one-day rock climbing tour with a company and woke up early to meet at the tour headquarters. I found out that 5 other travelers were coming with me along with two guides. There were 2 German guys, 2 British girls, and a Mexican guy. The Mexican, named Yamil, has long colourful dreadlocks and wears no shoes. Turns out he's been traveling for 10 years! He works as a dive instructor in various places around the world and had about as many stories as anyone I have ever met.

After a short drive and a steep hike we made it up to the limestone climbing cliffs. Luckily the cliff is out of the blazing sun. I have climbed off and on for awhile now and was climbing a couple of times per week when I was working in Nanaimo before I left. That being said I hadn't been climbing for a couple months now and I've never climbed outdoors. Yamil is an experienced climber but none of the other people had any experience so we were a good mix. Climbing outdoors on grippy limestone looking across at jagged karst formations in the distance with verdant rice paddies below is.....amazing. There was even water dripping down from above to cool off. I made it out alive and well except for multiple scrapes and cuts on my hands and legs but I did manage to finish a couple of routes.

That night we all went out for dinner and drinks. A large beerlao (did I mention how delicious beerlao is?) costs about $1 US or 10,000 kip. You can also get buckets of mixed drinks for a little more. Yes, they do come in a little bucket. Vang Vieng has a lot of tourists that I don't particularly care for (drunken idiots come to mind) but I was with a good crowd so it was fun. We ended the night drinking in hammocks next to the river.

The next morning Yamil asked me if I wanted to go explore some caves. I happily obliged and we went off to rent motorbikes. No I do not know how to ride a motorbike and never have. That is obviously not a pre-requisite here so it was no problem. I learned quick (out of sheer necessity) and luckily didn't hit anything. Eventually we got to some dirt roads which were a little tricky to navigate. We made it to a cave and some children led us up another incredibly steep path to its entrance. The kids have weak flashlights and are your only lifeline but they seem to know what they are doing, mainly because they want to be be paid in the end. The cave had spectacular stalagmites and stalactites and other other-worldly limestone formations. We hiked down and took a much needed dip in the river. I was already soaked from sweat so the cool water was refreshing like nothing else. We walked back up to the hut and sat down for a beerlao. We were going to go explore some other caves but got to talking and just kind of enjoyed the afternoon in this little hut. It is not a hard place to relax as the limestone cliffs with bright green rice paddies down below and water buffalo grazing lazily next to you make for a pretty nice atmosphere. We had only seen 2 other groups come to the cave while we were sitting there for about 3 hours, but the second group looked familiar. It was the two German guys we went climbing with the day before!

That night we went out for dinner and drinks again and watched the sunset on hammocks by the river. Today we were supposed to go caving and tubing (Vang Vieng is know for its tubing) but it was raining so we are waiting a bit before embarking. Tomorrow I am heading up to Luang Prabang with Yamil and exploring what is said to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. My trip is nearing an end but I can't think of a better place than Laos to be right now.

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