Almost home...

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Wow, what a trip its been. I cant believe its almost over!! Home in less than a week? Back to work? YIKES. But, I can't say I'm not anxious. My bed. A clean shower. NEW CLOTHES that dont smell like backpack. OMG. What a treat. And of course I'm excited to see you allll! Haha.

Alright, so. Down to business.

Bus ride to Laos was pretty long....not as brutal as I had anticipated though. We got to the border around 6, but it didnt open until 7 so we had to wait around and play cards until then. Back on the bus, we had another 7 hours or so to go. We met some nice people on the bus which helped pass the time during stops here and there.
We finally made it to Vientiane and found an above average guesthouse (we decided to splurge after such a long ride) on a nice side street. For a capital, Vientiane was really nice. Super clean. Nice parks and quiet streets. Nothing compared to Hanoi.
We headed out the next day, to Vieng Vang, for a few days. The THING to do there is tubing down the river. But the real deal, we found out, is to drink yourself silly by the river. I cant even describe what this day was like - it was an unbelievable loud party by the river, where different bars were clustered (ya, Dana, CLUSTERED!) together, offering you free shots of whiskey upon arrival, and cheap drinks. They also had a ton of zipline/tarzan rope type things set up at all the different bars to jump into the water from. Dangerous? Ya. Probably. But we went ahead and did it anyways.
So, needless to say, we got a little boozed up and never actually tubed down the river cause we were worried it wouldn't be as fun at the bars down the way. So we wasted a few bucks on a tube and another ride back into town. Ohhh well. We all had a lot of fun, and ended up spending the afternoon/evening with a bunch of guys we had met on the bus from Hanoi.

And this is where Chantal parted ways with us.
For those of you who dont know, Chantal has decided to stay behind to eventually find a job in Vietnam. Right now, she's in the southern part of Laos, still travelling, and enjoying herself. What a girl!

So Cristina and I continued on to Luang Prabang the next day, on the most horrid bus ride I've ever experienced. Not only was it the windiest, bumpiest road EVER, we also chose to embark on this journey with some pretty nasty hangovers looming over us the WHOLE way. Also, the air-con wasnt working (or so I thought). He only turned it on half way through our 6 hour journey. What a day. (Sorry Dad)
Luang Prabang was really really cute. They had a great night market where we spent a few nights touring around. We also took a day trip out to this beautiful waterfall. There were several pools you could swim in. COLD as all hell. But so refreshing.

From Luang Prabang, we decided to fly over to Chiang Mai. At this point, we had grown pretty tired of long bus rides and drawn out border crossings. The flight was great - we arrived in Chiang Mai early afternoon and checked in to our guesthouse, not far from the popular night market.
We went elephant trekking the next day which was pretty neat - we essentially sat on the elephant's back, while the guide sat on his head (cruel really, when you think about it) and we went on a little jungle trek while feeding him TONS of bananas. I actually couldn't believe the amount he was eating.
Afterwards, we hiked to a tribal village and later a waterfall for a quick dip. Finally, we went bamboo rafting (a few sticks of bamboo thrown together to make a raft) and we headed down a river with a guide who navigated through rocks, rapids, and other rafts. It was actually really fun. Near the end, there were these rafts set up over the water that you could rent out for the day. Since it was the weekend, there were many Thai families hanging out, drinking beers, playing in the water, and splashing us endlessly as we went by. At first, I was not so keen on the splashing game. I was trying to stay dry in my only shirt. But alas, I gave in.
As we went by every family, we would exchange looks with the kids in the water as we approached and then BOOM - WATER FIGHT! Pretty hilarious. And a lot of fun. At one point there was even an older woman involved.

The next morning, I woke up pretty sick. I wasnt sure if it was strep throat or not, but it later bloomed into a sweet head cold. Its lasted quite a while...I STILL have it. But not as bad.
We explored the night market a few times each night...but near the end of our stay, I was dragging my ass from exhaustion and sickness that I didnt last super long.

It is here that we decided we couldn't keep moving from place and place, and all we really wanted was to spend our last week on a beach. And so, we booked a flight to Koh Chang, where we have been now for 5 days.
Our flight, by the way, AMAZING. Other than my head cold being especially bad, pressure wise, Bangkok Airways is the way to go. We had a LOUNGE with FREE food and drinks. WOW. And we got fed on the plane. What a treat.

Anyways, Koh Chang - WOW. Beautiful. And exactly what the doctor ordered. We havent done anyyyything but lie on the beach. Needless to say, I'm black. Like probably the darkest I've ever been. We laugh at each other when we get changed cause our bums are soooo pastey white, haha.
We've been going for runs in the mornings (Cristina moreso than me, since my lungs are still really hurting from this cough), doing yoga and tae bo. We found the most delicious mueseli, fruit and yogurt combo down the street at this cute spot called Art's café (I checked, Dad. Art is not a 70yr old, balding, war veteran. But a young Thai guy, with aviators and tattoos). We've gone for breakfast there ever morning since. Its amazing.

Anyways, I could babble on some more. But that's the jist of our stay here in Ko Chang. We leave Sunday morning for Bangkok. We splurged on a guesthouse with a roof top pool, given the heat that Bangkok has to offer. We're also really not looking forward to Bangkok at all, but, Cristina leaves Tuesday and we thought it would be best to leave an extra day in between to be sure we get back in time.
I leave Wednesday morning! YIKES.

Excited to see you all. And eat spaghetti and meatballs. And sandwiches with real cheese and avocado. And WHOLE GRAIN BREAD. My god, I've eaten so much white bread its disgusting. And SUSHI. OMG sushi. Ok. I'm babbling. Obviously, I'm excited for food. And not baguette sandwhiches, and noodles (although I cant complain about the endless amount of pad thai), and fried eggs. REAL food. Wow. I'm going to gain 15lbs in a week with the amount I want to eat when I get back.

A bientôt! xoxoxoxox

p.s. as always, not rereading. enjoy the typos and mispelled words. WOOP.

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