Laos: Lazy Days on the River

My journey into Laos was definitely an experience! Duncan and I crossed the border into Laos by taking a small long tail boat across the Mekong. We stocked up on supplies (water, beer, sweets and of course a comfy pillow to sit on!) and boarded our Slow Boat that would take 2 days to arrive in Luang Prabang. Word of advise - definitely spend the money on the pillow. Sitting on a hard wooden seat is only comfortable for the first 15 minutes! The boat is super relaxing - a great way to chill out and meet other travellers. Definitely recommend it.

We spent 3 days in Luang Prabang, spending too much money at the Night market, swimming in the Kuang Si Waterfall and partying in a bowling alley. Apparently there is a curfew in Laos and the only thing open after 11pm is the bowling alley. We also went to the "cinema". Several TV rooms that play your choice of films - what a great concept in a backpacker town!

Next I endured the oddest bus ride I've had so far - an overnight bus to Vang Vieng. The distance itself is not that long, but the bus constantly twists up and down the mountain, so it takes about 8 hours. We literally drove through several forest fires caused by the farmers burning off their films. No one seemed to think forest fires were bad. On top of that, apparently the routine is often targeted by bandits - something we didn't realize until we saw that our bus was armed with 3 guys with semi-automatics. One guy even hid in the luggage compartment! Wow, not sure if that makes me feel safe or not. About 3 hours into the drive, our bus stopped randomly on the road and picked up about 30 or 40 local villagers, including heaps of children. There were no seats left, so they sat in the aisles on little plastic stools. The bus was PACKED, and poor Duncan had a little girl sleeping on his shoulder for most of the ride. But in the end, we arrived safe and sound at 3am.

Vang Vieng is total backpacker haven. Little French bakeries serving coffee and pasteries, cozy cafes playing reruns of Friends, and decent nightlife despite the curfew. It also is home to the nicest and cheapest guesthouses (only $4 per night!!!)

The highlight of Vang Vieng was tubing down the Nam Song River. After our strange bus ride and a few hours of sleep, we geared up with our swimsuits, an inner tube, a dry bag for our cameras and Summer Fun (Thanks Ian and James). We had a great group - 2 Canadians, 3 British, 2 Aussies and me. Dropped off by a tuk-tuk at the side of the river, we all hopped in our tubes and started floating down the river. Along the way, we "parked" our tubes, climbed up the rocks and jumped back into the river from swings and zip-lines. I'm sure the fact that we were constantly drinking Beer Lao helped with the fear of heights! It was a great afternoon with the sun shining (underneath the mist, haha) and spending the day stopping at several bars to chill out, play volleyball and fill up Summer Fun. What a blast!

Check out Duncan's pics...INCLUDING a video of the zip line!!!
Duncan's Blog

Today we bused to Vientiane - another hellish bus ride with pretend A/C and non-existant shocks. But at least there weren't any semi-automatics or sleeping villagers in the aisles. Tomorrow I'm flying to Hanoi in Vietnam.

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