Our Whirl Wind Tour of Laos

We have breezed through not nearly all of Laos, but all we have time for in one week. Our last day in Vientiane we did a walking tour. We saw some really incredible temples that had thousands of Buddhas in them of all sizes. We saw a museum and then the freedom monument, "The Golden Stupa." It was originally covered in pure gold but it has been stolen several times over the years and they keep rebuilding. Now it is just painted gold concrete. Still, representing perseverance for the people made it worth seeing. We don't understand a whole lot about the religion so although we learned some things like how Laos Buddhas don't show the nipples and that the head pieces are missing from some because when countries invaded they popped off the heads to steal the money that is sealed inside when they are made, it is kind of all the same thing after a while. We can't read any of the descriptions. Every place we have been recommends seeing like 100 wats or temples and Chris said to me the other day, "I don't want to see anymore Wats!" haha i had to agree!

We took a bus up to Vang Vieng which is like the drunken tourist capital of Laos. It is fun! but i feel bad for the local people because it is so not a part of their culture and they only do this for the tourist money. They must think westerners love loud music. They have night club music (a bit outdated) BLARING SOOO LOUD! ALL DAY. things do end at 1130, well the music does. some cities here have sanctioned 1130 curfews, but i don't know if the rules apply here as there are restaurants that serve "happy" food which is some kind of drugs and you watch "outdated friends" episodes on tv. Its really funny actually. This being said the Nam Song river flows right through the town and it is absolutely breathtaking! It is an adventure hub for biking etc. We did this full day tour where we went trekking through caves and countrysides and villages, tubing and swimming in caves and then kayaking all the way back. There are tons of bars set up on the river the whole way where no rules apply! Swings and slides into the river are set up along the way and people on inner tubes float down the river all day getting drunker as they go. People carry glass 26's right on the tubes, i'm sure alot of glass ends up in the river. We stopped our kayaks for a drink and a trip down the slide, it was AWESOME! I was so scared but my aussie friend pumped me up for it. My favorite part of the tour though was just passing all the little kids playing along our hikes. They were smiling and running along with us(some naked) saying, "sabaai- dii!" which is hello. You'd say it back and smile and then they'd get even more excited and follow along and repeat the same thing over and over. It never got old to them, and it didn't to me either. We had planned to spend another day here relaxing on a tube down the river but decided to keep on moving since we had just been down the river and opted for a head start on the Thai beaches instead. We had dinner with two couples from our trip. Kara and Prakash are Australians and JC and Rachel are from the French speaking part of Switzerland. We ate at a place where you sat cross-legged. It was so neat to hear about each others countries but also enjoy a totally new one together! We had the fish that comes from the river. I still don't know what kind it is because it just says 'fish' everywhere. They look hideously gross but taste great. We haven't been sick yet but i did experience "the claw" gnawing at my stomach followed by a night of nauseated cramping and a poor appetite. Everything is constantly being smoked on street- side grills and i was getting so nauseous smelling it. I only wanted to eat pizza or chips or fries or greasy non local food for 2 days.

We took a 6 hour mini bus ride up the mountains to the town Luang Prabang today. It was winding and bumpy and it was impossible not to have motion sickness. Anyone afraid of heights should only fly here. We were the last ones to get picked up so we sat at the cramped back which is normally only used for storage. The villages wind along with and close to the roads because its the steep side of a mountain behind. School kids were biking along the road so the bus had to honk every few seconds the road turned to get them over to the side. The villages are soo poor and remote, but everyone appears to be quite happy tending to their rice fields, binding thatch for their huts, playing with their kids etc. The drive to Luang Prabang was totally worth it. The view is spectacular with mountains and two rivers, one on each side of the town. It has a French feel, so cute, very touristy, clean, but expensive! There are caves and waterfalls and you can ride an elephant. We were going to rent a motorbike and explore ourselves but realized we were getting burnt out and decided to spend the day napping and getting a massage. There is a cool handcraft night market we hope to get some stuff at tonight to send back home, and i want to see all the monks walk through town at sunrise tomorrow if i can drag myself out of bed. We fly to Hanoi, Vietnam tomorrow so we say goodbye to Laos.

A few things remain the same no matter where we have been in Laos. City, town, or village, we wake up to a rooster crowing every morning. There is construction happening everywhere and this country is changing fast! The Chinese are investing lots of money here for roads etc. in hopes to buy some of their mineral rights. And the food is strong! garlic and i don't know what, but my own breath continues to wake me up in the middle of the night and i have to get up to brush my teeth before i can finish sleeping through the night! lol I like the food the least of any so far! We'll be in touch. Bye for now, and lots of love! Tell us what the heck is happening in Saskatchewan!

At Wat Si Saket, believed to be Vientiane's oldest surviving temple

The beautiful view from our guest house balcony in Vang Vieng

One of the caves we walked and crawled thru. The flash is great, its actually pitch black inside

Right behind us is the cave we paddled through, it was COLD! I got the archaic head lamp with open wires, everyone else got head lamps with led bulbs

Kayaking down the Nam Song

The slide had like a 20 ft drop off

Hahaha Chris went soaring off the thing, wish i had a better pic!

Supper with the couples we met on our day tour, so fun!

Breakfast in Luang Prabang, Laos coffee is wonderful, the food, not my fav