Onward to Vang Vieng

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The van was scheduled to be tat our guest house between 9:00 and 9:30. You can imagine how surprised we were when he was there 10 minutes EARLY! Candance and Duncan hadn't even packed their bags as everyone gets used to everything being late, and waiting around. They frantically packed and we were in the van 15 min later. This van takes us to the bus station where we transfer into another minibus. The drive was twisty the whole way. We drove above beautiful canyons, and through Lao villages. Ladies were showering on the side of the road with no tops on. Chickens, cows and pigs were running everywhere. People were sitting under their homes enjoying the shade and having a good laugh with the neighbors. Children were butt naked jumping into the river smiling ear to ear.
A minibus in front of us had gotten a flat tire, so for some reason our bus had to pull over and help. We never quite figured out why it took 28 people to change a tire. Lunch was in a small town with a few resteraunts all serving basically the same thing. We were there for 30 minutes, then we all stocked up on goodies for the ride and continued on. If you think Calgary roads are bad, you should see Lao roads. There are pot holes everywhere.
We arrived in Vang Vieng and had to jump in a truck to get a ride to town. At least these guys weren't charging an outrageous price per person. We left our bags in one spot, and a few of us went off in different directions to look for a guesthouse. We knew we wanted to stay away from the river as that is where all the bars are and it would be loud at night time. We checked out a few and then we stumbled across Phou Aug Kham Residence. It's like a 5 star place that we'd pay 100$ for at home. It isn't open yet so the rooms are all empty but we showed us anyway. Rooms are normally 150,000kip but we talked him down to 100,000kip ($12.50). We went back and told the others. The girls had gone down to see a place that Tim and Carrie found. Lauren came back saying it was pretty loud though. When we showed them this place they LOVED it. The beds are soft with a big white duvet. The pillows are cushiony. They have large balconies with views of the town, cable tv with some english shows, and a large bathroom. We settled in then went and had some beers down by the river.
We are thinking we are going to continue travelling with everyone through Laos,Cambodia and Vietnam. We really don't want to part ways. We are going to stick to our original route but then do Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Then we will go to South America. Oh the greatness of having a year to travel!

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