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Published: April 6th 2007
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headlamps2
How dorky do we look? Well, without them, we would have been screwed in this pitch-black cave. Hey everyone,
Geez, there is so much to tell...where do we start?
From Pakse, we decided on a last minute whim to skip Tadlo and the waterfalls and go straight to Vientiane instead. Bad choice, seeing as apparently everyone thought Bolaven Plateau was amazing (thanks for everyone who emailed us after the fact...ha) and the bus ride was probably the most uncomfortable form of transportation for Kris yet. Sleeper Bus!! Advertised with great pictures showing how for just 2 extra dollars you get your own bed to lie down on for the overnight trip. Bed my ass. It was more like a yoga mat (yeah, that would be the right size to compare with), maybe a little more cushiony. To make it all worse they played Laos Karaoke at intervals all through out the night. Shoot me.....
Anyways, nothing much to say about Vientiane. Good food, decent market, and we found a room with a TV for some great late night 80's flicks shown on Asia's exclusive HBO channel. They love their Arnold. "Asta la vista baby!"
Vang Vieng was paradise. Inner tubing down the river, jumping on rope swing after rope swing,drinking a bucket of
whiskey, red bull and coke on the docks, playing some pool, and chilling out on lounge sofas watching the latest movies while having dinner. We explored a very dark, dark cave the first day....we would have got lost if we hadn’t brought in some leaves for markers. When we turned off our headlamps, it was, in all honesty, pitch black. There was a river at the bottom that you can apparently swim out, but we didn't have a waterproof bag with us and it was way too dark and freaky.
Mulberry is the greatest fruit to have a shake with. We got addicted!! It came from the organic farm which quickly became OUR breakfast spot. We also bike rode to the Blue Lagoon with a fellow Canadian (hey Mitch), and had a dip in the most refreshing of waters.
Rope Swinging was probably the highlight for Kris. We went down the river via tube 3X because of the rope swings. The first time, Kris battled with his inner monkey to pull off the back flip. The second time, after watching a local doing it a couple times, his inner monkey ooh-ooh-aah-aahed out and flips it was for the
Tube o mania
Tubing down the river, one of three times, with Bella and Mitch in the background. whole day. There were swings that sent you flying at least 10 meters up. Izabela tried out too without the elaborate flips. She mostly screamed her way off the platform with her eyes closed. It was a blast nonetheless, and something we'll both never forget.
Luang Prabang: another horrible bus ride, Kris gets sick off of. Quite a beautiful city with the most relaxing colorful night market we've been to so far. And yes, we bought some goods. Just outside the city, was a waterfall that took our breathe away. Tiered in about 6 levels, it had pools that we could swim in and an aggressive French man that Kris almost beat up. He told us he "F$#@^ing didn't like us" because we were filming and thus we were tourists instead of travelers (?).Uh huh, he's just jealous...drunken bastard. Some people that we have met on this trip have made us question the human race...where do these people come from??
We just came off a 2 day boat ride which we were dreading going on because of all the horror stories we heard from other travelers. Maybe we had a horse shoe up pur ass, but it was
Rope Swings
After a whole day of not being able to do any flips, Kris managed to embrace his inner monkey and swing in style, flipping every chance he got. such a nice trip....relaxing, nice comfortable seats and a refreshing breeze. It was really nice and now we're in Hauy Xai waiting for tomorrow morning to go to the Gibbon Experience. Whoo hoo. We'll be living in a tree house for the next few days, zipping thru the forest on zip lines from tree house to tree house and going for great treks. We've hear nothing but good things about this place and thus we're excited to be spending our Easter there. Happy Easter everybody. We miss you all and to our families, we will miss the gathering and the food.
Ciao for now,
Kris and Izabela
PS. Right now, in the internet cafe, there are 3 young girls sitting in a circle, each with their own headphones on listening to different music....HUMMING AND SINGING OUT LOUD. Talk about annoying things. Funny though.
PPS: For all those we met along the way so far, miss you all. We're on our way to Chang Mai next and then Bangkok for the 20th. Thanks for all the emails. Abi, we'll be in Chang Mai for the 12th.
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