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Published: August 5th 2008
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I am afraid to say that I have misplaced my memory stick so you shall have to read on without the relief of pictures to ease your tired eyes (Though I may still have the pictures in my camera for this part onwards)
The last time I wrote it seems like a lifetime ago because since then I have had more excellent adventures, bumped into friends from Thailand, enjoyed the company of legendary figures on a balcony in Vang Vieng and truly had the best time ever.
I can not explain why Marion and I are always the fortunate ones and I don't care to question this fact either, simply to revel in the rays of light which the universe shines upon me since it took the decision to finally conspire in my favour. Every step I have taken since I began traveling, whether it be by choice or not, has kept me on a strange and winding path leading to many surprises and fortunate outcomes.
The day I returned to Luang Prabang from Muang Nong Ngoi I had every intention of taking a connecting bus to Vang Vieng but by the time I arrived in L.P. I
thought it was too late to continue the final leg of my journey. So instead I shopped!! Stopping to eat at a French Cafe to rest my weary legs and feed my belly I surveyed my surroundings and to my surprise I spotted Julia from the Pai rafting trip in Thailand. I was to bump into her again when after having returned to my guesthouse to shower and change into my new dress I popped out again to enjoy a glass of red wine and lo and behold there she was again.
The next morning, I rushed to the bus station to catch my connection to Vang
Vieng only to be told that the 11am bus had broken down and I had to wait 3 1/2
hours for the next one. In England I would have found it impossible to sit quietly and ponder but out here it is the easiest thing in the world to simply be. Finally I know what it is like to live in the present. To really live in the now when there is no past and no future to consider just the moments.
When we were finally herded onto the bus it
was another 9 hours before we were to reach our destination during which at one point we were told to vacate the bus and walk. Meanwhile, it motored up the hill, presumably to find a plateau from which to gain momentum, which it couldn't do at the bottom while carrying a busload of passengers. It was pitch black and all we could hear was the mountain depositing its water at the bottom of the ravine and surrounding us on the roadside were wooden huts, its inhabitants happily ensconsed inside watching television, which is quite a bizarre sight in the middle of nowhere where clean water doesn't even run from taps and people still bathe in the river.
When we finally arrived those of us staying in Vang Vieng were abandoned in what appeared to be in the middle of nowhere so we joined forces to find a guesthoouse following which the next logical conclusion was to get ourselves a beer. There in Oh La La Bar I spotted a little French girl, her bag hanging off her shoulder and her hips swaying to the music. I had found Marion!
My tiredness disappeared and I was introduced to her
in vang vieng
view fromthe guesthouse friends from the tubing trip, Louise and Sam and I introduced to them Jez who was on the bus with me. The night turned into something else and while the others were left to walk to the next bar Marion and I did what we do best. We rode there in style - three atop a scooter after unwittingly catching the attention of a local Laos man!!
The next day I moved into her guesthouse where I encountered travelling legends in the form of Bruce, Corky and Grant. Oh and not forgetting Armin, the sexy German who lives and works in France. The view from the Guesthouse was out of this world (as usual) and we had the unique pleasure of an outside shower from where we could see the mountains as we washed the night away to enjoy another day.
I said I would never do Tubing but my God I am so glad that I did! It was wicked 😊))) The day began with Mulberry Mohitos and on it went. At one bar I swung from a swing high above the river and discovered I could make noises that I never knew I had in me
as I was terrified flying in the sky above the river. The splash down was exhilirating and full of relief at the same time. The bars are simple wooden constructions upon the muddy banks of the river but cater for your every need. There's a dance floor, a hot mud spa and even a volleyball pitch. We would jump into our tubes and float down the river to the next bar and then the next and then the next until it got dark and then we would cling onto each others tubes singing loudly into the night sky wondering where we should stop and whether we could.
From Vang Vieng we made our way to the capital, Vientiane with Sam and Louise in tow or vice versa, it doesn't matter. Honestly, when I look back I can not even remember that journey. But I do recall the struggle on arrival, the martini bar, the local nightclubs, the old Laos man from the Italian cafe (and his jeep) and Marion singing ..... more on that later and much much more xxx
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