Loving Laos

We had a nice last day in Vang Vien just relaxing and watching Friends. It's amazing walking down the street and all the bars and restaurants are playing Friends. They all have low table and pillows and cushions to make the place even more relaxing. Very strange, but it does suck you in. Tanya and I felt the need for some exercise so we rented bikes and rode around the town. We ended up finding a really big cave that we explored for a bit. It was nice and cold in there so we stayed for a bit longer. It's way too hot here. The reason I am writing this now is because it's mid-day and horribly hot at the moment. We found the only internet place with aircon and hopefully spending a long time in here. Anyways, our little bikes could not withstand the dirt and rock roads and I thought they were going to fall apart. After the cave we found a little fresh waterfall and swimming hole. The water was crystal clear and I decided to jump in. Tanya hurt her leg, of course and the doctor told her not to swim. I swam into the cave a bit until it got too dark and I got too scared. It was exactly what I needed after a long bike ride. We got back on our bikes and proceeded to ride around. We noticed the dark clouds hovering over us and found our way back to the bar that the others were lounging out and watching Friends. We got stuck there while the rain pounded down for a bit.

The next day we took a bus north to Luang Prabang. We were meant to get the VIP bus, but it was broken so we got shoved into a mini bus. We thought it would suck but the ride was very enjoyable. I love traveling in Laos. There are moments where I forget that there is a destination and I think that this is what we are doing for the day. It's so beautiful that I enjoy the rides and looking at the scenery or the village life. We got to our destination after 7 hours. It's actually not that far to Luang Prabang but the roads are very curvy and up and down mountains. It takes a bit longer because of that.

Luang Prabang is a cute little town. I'm surprised at the size of it and how established it is. It's very French and I think it was built up in the 1930's. It's right on the Mekong River which makes it very picturesque. We made plans to meet up with some people on our bus but we made a stupid mistake and layed down to relax. We didn't wake up until 12:30am and then went back to bed until the morning. We slept over 12 hours that night. Oooppps! The next day when we finally got out of bed we of course went for massages. The Laos massage is great. Then, feeling better we walked around and ended up going to this huge waterfall 30K away from town. Our bus got a flat tire on the way in the middle of no where. So, that slowed us down a bit. We finally made it and it was worth it. It had over 7 tears and the last one was so huge and beautiful. The water was so clear and blue and the swimming pools were so refreshing. I walked up to the top of the falls with these two guys from our bus. It was a long hike, but worth it. People were jumping off the cliffs and trees into the pool that lowed over the side really far down. I didn't jump, but I enjoyed watching the crazy people. I went down to find the girls and went swimming with them next to a small fall. On our way out we played with a baby brown bear cub. He was so cute. The other brown bears were all climbing trees in the caged area. These were all rescued bears that were going to be sold on the black market. There was also a tiger that was in another area. We didn't play with her, but she was beautiful. And, that was our day. Vickie and I went out to meet up with some people from the bus. The bars close at midnight, it's crazy. There is an illegal "coffeshop" that everyone went to. It was basically in this guys living room and he had a fridge of beer. Very strange...But good!

Today we are wandering around. It's too hot to do anything. Tomorrow we are heading to Nong Khiew on a boat. I'm really excited about that. It should be really cool to be in a smaller town and away from the backpacker circuit. Did I tell you I love Laos??? Cause I do!