Leaving Laos, Heading to Bangkok

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Well, our week in Laos went by all too quickly. Since our last post, we've journeyed through the 60's/70's Hippie outpost of Vang Vieng. Now home to what has to be the world's least safe tubing adventure. Basically a pub crawl on a super fast river with each bar throwing you a line and literally reeling the customers in. If the river speed isn't scary enough, there's a variety of trapeze ropes, slides, and other various ways to try to injure yourself. Needless to say, a great time was had by all, even if we have a few bruises to show for it (sorry, no pics....).

After VV, we headed to the capital of Laos, Vientiene. We wandered up to the Golden Stupa, monument to Laos independence and Buddhism (Laos is the only country in the world with Buddhism as the official religion). After another great Lao meal, Pat joined a Lao singer and made his Asian debut.

Today we head to the border and board our last train (thank goodness!) to Bangkok. Our tour ends on the 4th of July and then we venture out on our own. Sorry for the brief update, but we finally found a place to load pictures. Be sure to go back to the last entry as we've posted a ton of China pics there!

Answers to the Questions in our comments so far (sorry, it's hard to reply):

Andy: The beer in China was super duper cheap (50 cents for 3/4 of a liter) but also super weak. The strongest beer was about 4% with most in the lower 3% range. Pat also discovered one beer that even he couldn't drink. A delightful blend of weak beer and soy sauce....mmmmmmmm. Laos has great, normal strength beer called Beer Lao. It's everywhere and cheap. We're keeping our fingers crossed for Thailand.

Mom: Pat insists that the long sleeves keep him cooler since they are breathable, wicking, and have SPF. My long sleeve shirt at the duck dinner was indeed due to a sudden drop in temperatures.......we'd kill for that right now. Honestly don't know why we bother showering since you are immediately soaking wet.

Gator fans: Pat has stamped the Gator nation on a restaurant in Vang Vien. Not exactly Teebow style, but cool none-the-less

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Comments

[Charlotte Winnier]

What fun
I think you are making everyone wish they were there. And, thanks for the update on beer.

[chrissy]

really
chicken feet...really. you guys didn't have to go all the way to china for that one i could have walked over to wards and picked some up for you. i miss you guys! come home soon!