13 days in Laos (written late January)

Really for the first time on this trip, I'm inspired to write about where I've been.

Laos has been fantastic. Of course there wasn't enough time, but seeing as this is a prospecting trip--I've formed a good plan for what I'll do when I come back.

From Vientiane I headed north on the overnight bus to Luang Prabang. Friendly turned to over-friendly "inadvertent" touching by the guy sitting next to me on the bus. This made for an awkward 10 hours and didn't allow for much sleep--so when we finally arrived to Luang Prabang I was plenty relieved.

We were there before the the guest houses were open so I waited outside of my prospective hotel with a couple of tuk-tuk drivers and we watched the sun rise as an endless line of saffron-robed monks went on their daily 6am procession to gather rice from the townspeople.

Luang Prabang is a very beautiful town but it was a little too gentrified for my taste (being a UNESCO World Heritage Site..ya know), so the next morning I met our captain down at the dock and at 9am we shoved off for Nong Kiaw. I had read that this boat journey was especially beautiful and I was not disappointed. We started up the Mekong, but after 15 miles we took a right onto the Nam Ou River. The brown water gave way to green and limestone cliffs starting climbing out of the side of the river. Where the banks of the river were settled, there'd be men fishing by the river with nets, boys with snorkel masks and spear guns and smaller children naked and waving to us, yelling SA-BA-DEE (HI!) at the tops of their lungs. There were also a fair number of water buffalo, up to their ears in water and in no hurry to get out of the way of an oncoming boat.

Our vessel was a 35-40ft long boat (4 ft across) that had the captain at the front, the 15 passengers crammed into the front half, the horrible toilet and engine in the middle and no cargo in the back. I don't claim to understand how it worked, but somehow this boat was able to navigate a river with serious rapids while only drawing a foot and a half of water. Only once did a few of us have to spill out the sides and give it a push. I was the last person to board our boat and because we were over capacity I had what I think was the good luck to be able to lounge in the back on the packs instead of having a seat.

Nong Kiaw is the definition of a sleepy town--a couple guest houses, a few restaurants, fishermen and stunning riverside sunsets pretty much define the place. I think I went to bed the first night at 7:30--not much to do after dark. The second day I met up with the couple, Claire and John, staying in the bungalow next to mine (who had also been on the boat with me) and proposed that they come to try the traditional Lao fishing with me. They were happy to give it a shot, so we each paid $5 and were introduced to our guides for the day. 12 and 14, our guides introduced themselves one at a time. The first said that his name was Pis. Odd, I thought, looking to the others to see if they had picked up on the unusual name. Then the other little boy said that his name was Poo. I couldn't help but laugh quietly, and the British couple were enjoying it as well--we thought that the little guys were taking the 'piss'--but those were their names. For fear of laughing uncontrollably, however, we would have to call them by 'hey' and 'you' for the rest of the day.

When we thought 'traditional Lao fishing' there were visions of us going out in a long-tail canoe on the big river with spear guns and nets, searching for a big catch (which, as part of our package, we were supposed to eat upon our return). Instead, we walked to a little creek much further away and spent a couple of hours laboriously throwing our nets to catch minnows. We caught about 6, the biggest 2 inches long. So after the stop to tour the cave that the town hid out in while the Americans were bombing, we got back to the town and politely declined our minnow feast.

That night after the sunset we headed to 'Le Cinema,' a house with 3 rooms that you can rent to watch one of the movie house's 700 DVDs. The next day Claire and John took off, but I decided to stay for one more night in the peaceful place that gave me the feeling that I was at Maranon. Another night of going to bed at 7:30 was one too many, so the next morning I made my way back to Luang Prabang (by bus) to try to catch the noon bus to Vang Vieng.

The bus actually left on time, so I missed it by 8 minutes. So it was the 3 o'clock bus out of town that would carry me up into the rugged Laotian mountains--a gorgeous bus ride through picturesque valleys and precariously placed (on the side of the road, usually on curves that trucks and buses take way too fast) villages. Ben, from Ireland, the two Swedish girls and I would end up walking around town for about an hour before we found a place that had put mattresses down on a floor and would let us stay there.

Bed or no bed, it didn't matter because Vang Vieng was going to be the most fun place that I had visited. I met up with Devin and Ryno from Vietnam and the next morning we set off for the tubing for which the place is famous. Tubing, rope swings, being out on the river on a sunny day is the kind of thing that I absolutely love--and it wasn't long before I was nicknamed the Prince of the River for my gung ho attitude.

It isn't 100m into the trip that you are brought into your first riverside bar. We were greeted with free shots of Lao Lao, a rice whiskey that should more appropriately just be called gasoline. The buckets of cocktails are soon to follow, then it's Beer Lao and we're off to the next set of bars. It keeps going like this all the way down the river--turning from fun to probably just dangerous. Unfortunately you don't make it all the way down the river because there is one bar with the best and biggest rope swing, great music, volleyball and the most people...which is where everyone ends up staying. It was here that I met back up with the Swedish sisters that I'd crossed the border with and that I would maintain my status as Prince of the River with back flips off of the rope swing, platform...or anywhere else that offered a relatively soft landing.

Dave and I were supposed to go rock climbing and I did get out one day for a good bike ride to a blue lagoon and big cave--but it was the river that dominated the agenda. Devin and Ryno were, as always, a ton of fun to hang out with and they did me the favor of introducing me to Champa Lao, they're hotel, which has the most beautiful views over the valley and serves the best food that I've had in Asia. I delayed my departure until the very last minute and got one more good day of sun out of it. But Brock was flying into Ho Chi Min, then Da Nang and I would need to spend just about every minute of the next 48 hours to make it to meet him. Luckily my second Vietnam visa had come back without issue and I could be on my way--saying goodbye to my favorite country of the trip.