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Published: September 29th 2005
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Barber Shop
This is where Jay went to get his haircut in Vang Viang. I have added a lot of pictures to my last two log enteries, so make sure that you take a look! I havent added pictures for this entry yet, but there should be some up soon.
We are staying in Vientien at the moment. Vientien is the capital of Laos, and the only city in Laos that one could call a city. It rivals Bangkok when it comes to pesky Tuk Tuk drivers shouting, honking, whistling, reving their engine, or slamming on the breaks causing accidents just to entertain us with the idea that their Tuk Tuk is better than the others. Yesterday I waved down a Tuk Tuk in the rain - He was so excited that he slammed on the breaks and skidded into someones yard. I think it took him about 20 feet to stop, plus a lot of break squealing. He was thrilled to give me a ride because that meant he could charge "tourist price" and pretend to speak no english so that he could take me the wrong way and then want more money to get me home. I spent about 2 hours yesterday on a Tuk Tuk circling vientien, when I could have
Island Bar
An outside bar on an island in Vang Viang. walked in far less time.
For those of you who have never seen a Tuk Tuk, my friend Jay described them perfectly. They look like a John Deer lawn mower that has poked holes in the exhaust, painted red, green, yellow, purple, turqouise, and white, and draped with a plastic canopy over the seating area. The seating area is really just a wooden bench attatched to the back.
The Tuk Tuk drivers really are driving me crazy, but they are extreemly entertaining. I think I have figured out this weird breed of people however, and have developed some rules when dealing with them:
1. Never ask a Tuk Tuk driver for a good place to eat (he will drive you to the farthest restaurant in town)
2. Never look a Tuk Tuk driver in the eyes when you are walking down the street (you will have a new "best friend")
3. If you see more than 4-5 Tuk Tuk drivers together, turn around - They can get vicious in packs!
4. Always offer 3X less money than what the Tuk Tuk driver initally wants.
5. Never feed a Tuk Tuk driver 'Lao Lao'...He
will take you off-roading in his Tuk Tuk. (Lao Lao is rice whiskey that costs 75 cents/bottle! its poison)
6. Alwas bring a sock when taking a Tuk Tuk in rush hour - you will need it as a gas mask.
7. Offer the Tuk Tuk driver $1 extra, and he will let you drive.
8. Never take a guided city tour in a Tuk Tuk - you will end up at every suit shop, jewellery store and travel agency in town (they make commission).
Thats what I have learned so far, but Im sure a Tuk Tuk driver will take me on some wild adventure in the near future.
The last entry was when we witnessed the dog cooking in Vang Viang. We ended up staying there for a few more days, it was quite a nice place. One day we rented tubes and floated down the river. Every 10 mins or so we would float into a bar on the side of the river with huge ziplines into the water, rope swings, and of course - Beer Lao. I didnt have good luck with these. On one I hit the bottom of the
Cave Spring
Carl in the water near the caves. river and cut my heel open - It was pretty hard to walk for the next few days. On the second one, I tried to do a back flip but my foot was caught up in the cord and i was dropped upside down. It was great fun though!
That night we sat around, ate pizza, and watched movies in the local restaurants. The main street is loaded with open air restaurants that have cusion pits that you can lay in and eat. While you are eating, you can request a pirated dvd, or...if you really like the tv show 'Friends', there is one bar that plays it from 8am until midnight every day.
The next day we rented bicycles and decided to tour around the local caves. I put a discman and speakers in the front basket of my bike so we could cruise with some tunes. We found one cave that had beautiful turquoise water and we could swim 50 feet upstream through a tunnel, and then just float back down afterwards - very cool!
The bike trip was great...but the bikes we rented - they were shit. The handle came off my bike while
Bike Riding
cruising around Vang Viang I was riding which caused me to crash. I skinned my big toe pretty badly, which meant that I could no longer walk on just the front of my foot (which I had to do because my heel was banged up from earlier!). It was quite a challenge walking around for the next few days, but a great excuse to relax.
When it rains here, it pours. We are enoying the tail-end of monsoon season, and the storms are incredible to watch. If you feel one drop of rain, you have to run for the nearest cover, because the rain will be Pouring within seconds. Vancouver is nothing compared to this. I have a great video that looks like we are standing in a waterfall, with lightning flashes every second!
On my second last night in Vang Viang, I met up with a few locals than ran the main disco. They spoke hardly any english, but invited me to try some Laos cuisine....something I will never do again. Squirrel skin with the hair still on it is way too chewy for my liking.
Our next destination was Vientien - where we are now. Jay and Carl decided
Sunset
View from our room in Vang Viang to take the bus, and I figured I'd spend a bit more cash so that I could do a guided Kayak tour down to Vientien. We hit up some great rapids, everyone dumped, and we finished the day by sprawling out on our kayaks and floating down the river with the sun blazing down on us.
We have not been able to do a lot in Vientien. Most of our time is wasted on Tuk Tuk trips to god knows where, or recovering from these trips. We found a really cool club with many locals. They play a combination of typical american techno songs combined with a really fast asian techno beat! Its actually pretty cool.
While at these clubs, we have run into another breed of people who rival the Tuk Tuk drivers in uniquness. They are called the Lady Boys! They are everywhere! The scary part is that some of them are very convincing. They all have long hair, have plastic surgery on their face and eyes, remove their adams apple, and have breast implants. The only way that you can tell is by looking at their fingers and hands. We decided that if we are
Kayaking
Sprawled out on my kayak approached by any Lao "girl" that we will turn our heads - They are most likley a lady boy or a hooker.
Today we are going to escape the Lady Boys and Tuk Tuk drivers and head down to southern Laos. We are going to a part of the Mekong river delta where the river is 14km wide and has thousands of tiny islands. We hope to see the fresh water dolphins, the waterfalls, and some great scenery.
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