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Published: January 10th 2006
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Mekong view from our roof
Well, uh, this is the Mekong view from our roof in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Hey all,
Where to begin...So, after our last entry we headed to Vientiane, Lao PDR. Keif and I had quite the bus experience. Some highlights include: the 12 hour overnight bus from Chiang Mai blows out a tire 15 minutes into trip, we don't see any other foreigners at any of the bus stops we stop at, NOTHING is written in English, etc. Fortunately we were befriended by a girl named Phun (pronounced "fun") and she steered us in the right direction which was extremely lucky because two of the three changes we made from buses to sangtaew (trucks with benches in the back) were at unmarked spots on the street that we NEVER in a million years would have found by ourselves. So, the breakdown of the trip is as follows: after a 12 hour busride (and about 2 hours of sleep, if you could call it that!), a 5 minute tuk tuk ride, a 4 hour bus trip, a 25 minute sangtaew trip, an hour long bus trip, a 7 minute tuk tuk ride, a 3 minute bus trip over the border, and a 25 minute taxi ride, we finally made it to Vientiane! Total time...don't even ask! It
Merry Christmas!
Blythe and Keif at Xmas dinner in Vientiane - Napkin Caption "Merry Christmas - Lao PDR 2005" was fun being the only foreigners on all the buses though - Phun actually asked us why we were taking the bus and not the train and after that trip, we were asking ourselves the same question!
We hung out in Vientiane for about 5 days (one day with Keif's friend from high school, Dakota, before he headed north - always fun with Coty!) which ended up being pretty interesting. Lao is a lot different than Thailand, even though it's just across the Mekong - a much slower pace of life! Wandering around a Wat one day we were approached by two young monks who began asking us questions in English. They were very eager to practice their English and we were curious about how living as a monk in Lao would be so we spent quite some time talking with them. The next day at a different Wat and monestary we ran into another monk that we talked to for quite some time. It was a really great change of pace and fun to slow down and meet and talk with some locals! We learned some interesting things about their studies, what they are allowed to do and what
Sunset on Koh Phangan
The bungalow pictured is a couple doors down from ours - pretty nice eh? is taboo, etc.
Celebrating Christmas was interesting - we had good Indian food and the store next to us had a Christmas tree out front and played bizarre Christmas carols that sounded more like cell phone ring tones!
With India and my internship looming ahead in the distance we decided to head south out of Lao to hit the beaches in Thailand so we could relax, study, and generally prepare for The Subcontinent! Don't worry though, we will explore the rest of Lao on our way back through in April!
With our Thai visas renewed we headed down to the islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. This required another all night bus ride (trains were totally booked because of the New Year) which involved sitting in front of an Englishman who was drunk when he got on the bus and continued to drink throughout the entire trip. His very drunk friend kept telling him to shut up and Keif and I couldn't help but laugh when the guy started singing "God Save the Queen," but at around 1:30 the singing was more than a little annoying!! We spent New Years on Koh Samui and saw about a million fireworks
Da Beach
Blythe takes a dip on the beach below our bungalows. displays, before we decided to head to Koh Phangan. The move to Koh Phangan was a spectacular idea. We found ourselves on Had Yao beach with gorgeous white sand and pristine water - your typical tropical paradise. After stumbling across bungalows perched on the rocks overlooking the beach, we set up camp at an ideal spot to relax. After a day or two of hanging out at the beach, etc, a Canadian couple from Vancouver, Ian and Karen, moved in next door and we hung out with them a bit over the next couple of days on the beach, snorkeling, kayaking, soaking up sun, and eating very well. We were also introduced to a couple from Russia and a guy from Croatia and we partied with them for a couple nights. To add to the party, a friend from Missoula, Dan Schermele, ended up in Thailand on break from teaching in China so we got to spend an evening with him as well. All in all, it was a very good time and we hated to admit it, but it was a little hard to leave!
We have, however, consoled ourselves with the fact that in 48 hours we will
Godzilla
Keif doing his best impression of Godzilla over the sand castle we (ha, mostly Keif) worked on all afternoon. be in INDIA! I must say, I am getting very excited (and sometimes terrified, but mostly excited).
So, enjoy the pictures and we will update you from India - tentatively planning on staying in Delhi for 3 nights, then heading into the state of Rajasthan to see some forts, camels, etc. We hear, however, that Delhi is in a cold snap so not only will we be afflicted with culture shock, but a bit of a temperature shock also!
More from India next,
Blythe and Keif
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