Wanderlust: Laos

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Em and I had slid into the routine of strategically winding down through all of our local currency so that we would run out right as we were departing for our next country. Picking up our new currency from the arrival airport's ATM proved to be very convenient. Our arrival into Luang Prabang scared us into changing our approach for the balance of the trip. After deplaning the prop plane that flew us from Bangkok to Luang Prabang in Laos, we entered a small hut like structure that was more like a poolside cabana than an international terminal. There were two manned windows upon entering the terminal, one to apply for a Lao visa and one to pay for a Lao visa. Our tab for two Visa's On Arrival would be $70 of which we had about $20 - not even enough for one fo us to get into Laos and hit an ATM. The Immigration Offical's snickered at my assumption that their international airport would have an ATM. After a short but effective scare tactic that suggested we would have to fly back to Thailand to hit an ATM, a very kind British couple on holiday from their home in Singapore offered us $100 without a worry about how we would get it back to them. Thank Buddha they did because BOTH of the two ATM's in the entire town of Luang Prabang were out of order. I finally found the only bank that would give a cash advance against a VISA card and took out the maximum allowable amount, 4 million Kip, which incidentally was 3 million less than I requested. After stuffing my drawers with purple backs and feeling like I just knocked off a 7/11, Em & stepped onto the street to find a liquor shop to buy a thank you bottle of wine for Nick & Sara. We didn't get 50 meters down the road before we heard someone yelling "Steve". We were both perplexed at who we might know in Laos given that we just arrived, but after the second shout, we realized it was Sara. Luang Prabang was a tiny town where we ran into the same people over and over. Although I'm certain that they were genuinely unconcerned about getting the money back in a hurry, it was clearly not going to be difficult to catch up with them once I could reload. I handed over a bundle of bones that was thicker than a banyan tree and was free of our debt.

Luang Prabang was incredible - such a charming little town. When not touring wats and waterfalls, we witnessed the monks receiving alms. We expected big things out of the waterfalls but we got skunked at Tad Sae despite being rainy season. Tad Sae is a three tiered beast of a fall that somehow was reduced to a pipe fed trickle. Deflated after getting up at the crack of dawn to experience it sans the hoards of tourists, we headed for Kuang Si falls in hopes of an entirely different experience. We arrived to the roar of the falls and I was elated to unleash my shutter on the foamy tiers. I was so impressed with lower falls that I didn't realize the upper falls existed until after we left. I'm convinced that Em withheld the info to curtail the photo session.

After our 2 hour massages ($5 each), Em was so content that she wanted to spend our entire week in Laos in L.P. However, I had been day dreaming of frolicking in the waters of Vang Vieng. We hooked up a 7 hour bus ride where Em cursed my name for at least 6 of the hours. However, after an entire day riding old tractor innertubes down the Nam Song River, she was a passionate convert. She even chugged a beer when we challenged a couple locals to some "beach" volleyball. The river was dotted with 9 bars and trapeze swings of varying heights. I was pleased to see that beer and high altitude dismounts into fast moving water were a match made in heaven. The day was topped off as Em laughed herself out of the tube when I declared mutiny and deboated our guide from his kayak leaving him with his paddle and my innertube. We retreated to our sick riverside bungalow to find a lizard the size of a large BeerLao on our ceiling. After riding our moto aimlessly around for hours, we succomed to the need to head out for the airport. Laos captured our hearts as the tops of our travels to date.

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