Waterlogged in Laos

Our time in Laos was brief and it felt like we did more traveling to and from than we actually spent there, but it was definitely worth it. From Bangkok, we flew about 600km north east to Udon Thani. We met some guy outside of the airport who brought us to the Laos border to get our Visas. It seemed kind of sketchy, but we met another guy from the States who had been living in Laos for 6 months and he seemed pretty at ease with the whole process. It was pretty rushed, and after spending the day at airports and on planes, if we did get scammed, we were too tired to notice. After crossing the border with our freshly granted Visas, we spent the night at a decent-ish hotel with plans to find a bus or van early the next morning. Phone calculator in hand, we negotiated a fair price to get from Vientiane to Vang Vieng. After 6 hours in packed van on bumpy, winding, muddy roads, we finally made it to our destination and were left with the fun task of finding a hostel while carrying our backpacks in the pouring rain. After nearly a week in the sunshine on the beach in Koh Phangnan, the rain was putting a damper on the excitement of being in a new country. Luckily, after a couple of hours of hunting and checking probably a dozen different hostels, we found the perfect one and for only $4 each per night! 

Breakfast of champions in the van en route to Vang Vieng. 

Embracing the weather. 

The view about 2 minutes away from our hostel. 

VIP Tuk Tuk Service

Local boys playing in the river. 

Despite the goofiness and smiles, we were pretty grumpy the first day in Vang Vieng. It rained constantly, and we were questioning our decision to make the trek there. We met an English guy that afternoon who was on his way to go tubing for the third day in a row. He told us "it will all make sense"after we went tubing. He was right. 

Renting tubes. 

We made some new friends on the ride to the river. Sophie in the middle is from Denmark and was traveling by herself and Chloe and Janan are from the States - Janan was celebrating finishing law school traveling all summer before starting at law firm in September. 

The whole idea behind tubing in Vang Vieng seems a little crazy, but that guy we met was right: It only makes sense once you experience it. 

Bar one: Jennie gets attacked by a man with a stencil and spray paint. 

Buckets and dancing in the rain. 

This guy was a character awkwardly and hilariously leading everyone in some dance. 

Spiderman showed up. 

Bar number two: shots of mysterious millipede infused alcohol. 

Yum. 

After each bar, you get back in your tube and drift further down the river until people from the next bar throw out a rope and drag you in. Upper body workout of the century.

Sure, why not.

Playing basketball at bar number three.

Still dancing, this time around a fire to warm up.

Of course we had fun playing games, drinking, and dancing by the fire, but what I was not expecting was the incredible scenery. I was in awe floating in between enormous, overgrown karsts all afternoon.

Cheers to surviving! Such a fun day. It all makes sense.

For our last day in Laos, we hired a tuk tuk to take us to a waterfall we had read about it. It was still raining, of course, but a beautiful day nonetheless. 

I made another new friend. We met him again later once we got to the waterfall. 

"This is safe. This is safe. This is safe." Mind over matter.

My new Laotian friend guided me over the rocks so I could stand at the base of the waterfall. The power of the spray from the waterfall was almost strong enough for me to lean against. I was soaked head to toe and I couldn't stop smiling. The local guy who was helping me didn't speak any English, but just kept laughing like a hyena and yelling "WOOO" as the water pounded down on him. 

                                

Afterwards, my new friend was eating a snack which appeared to be some kind of bird. Singing "Cheap! Cheap!" and making wing motions, he confirmed my suspicion. He offered me some and I had to try it. After the fact, Lindsay told me that she had witnessed him drop it on the ground and proceed to pick it up and "wash" it off with green pop. Yummm. The good news is that I didn't get sick from the mystery bird or the mystery dirt. 

Just a little rain, no big deal. 

We weren't scheduled to leave Vang Vieng until midnight but had checked out of our first hostel at noon. After coming back from our little waterfall adventure, we were all aching for a warm shower and some dry clothes so we found another hostel and decided to fork over a whopping $2 each for some shelter from the rain until we left. I broke out my hairdryer (yes, I brought a hairdryer backpacking) and  we each blow dried an outfit to wear to the airport. 

Another bumpy, muddy, scary ride in a van brought us to the airport in Vientiane for our 6am flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Let the adventure continue...