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We survived Vang Vieng! The 4 hour bus ride to get here was rough because of the winding roads and hills but we were happy when we finally arrived and the sun was shining. The town itself isn't very big and Laos is different from the places we've been so far, its much more relaxed and slower paced, we actually seen a road sign that said no honking allowed. Yay! The locals are overly friendly and always smiling. The landscape is stunning, a nice change of scenery and temperature.
We spent the first day at the river with Kevin, trying to just take it all in. This is like no other party we've have seen! On average there are well over 1000 westerners scattered around 4 or 5 bars that line the river. Each bar playing very loud music( I think we heard the same 10 songs played between each bar.) Most people tube from bar to bar and don't make the whole tubbing route which is about 4 hours long, most people only make it past the first 100meters as each bar has their own idiotic device for jumping into the very shallow river....zip lines, rope swings, hand crafted shady slides. It's an accident waiting to happen, and we saw so many people with tenser bandages.. No doubt caused by the slippery concrete steps. Its not a surprise that there are so many injuries or deaths here! Don't get us wrong...tubing is a blast, but as fun as it is we can't help feeling a bit ashamed of our stupid western behavior as we see the young locals watching from the sidelines thinking who knows what, nothing good I'm sure. Luckily Karli and I are very mature responsible adults! We had a great first day walking from bar to bar and on the second day we went tubing through caves and kayaked down the river. We decided against tubing on the last river day and instead we swam from bar to bar, a logical choice for two budget travers with our swimming experience. Mom and Dad I'll have you know that right before we got in I said " karli are you sure this is safe.... I promised my parents nothing stupid".
We spent our last night out on an organic farm, and in the morning helped with cleaning the pens and feeding them. The little kids were so cute!
So a week in Vang Vieng relaxing and making memories is over....we made it! Tomorrow a 7 hour bus ride to Luang Prabang.... Get that gravol ready Karli, it's going to be a windy day.
Some useless tid bits.....
- until yesterday we hadn't met any other Canadians
-Oreos and Ritz have been our snack food, it's all they have!
-In our free time we play Words with friends and Scramble, challenge us!
Cynelson7 Karlinr - Karli has a weakness for Irish accents -We both ruined our iPods by dropping them in the ocean, but luckily we have back ups! We have faith they will come around and work again. - Cynthia has slipped and fallen in every country so far *Warning* Do not click these links unless you want these songs stuck in your head for a very long time!! These two have been following us since Bangkok Careless whisper http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQtlrBziyzI&feature=youtube_gdata_player Say you say me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=423p-IDsvA0&feature=youtube_gdata_player The other song is Rock the Casbah, except our version is Save the Cat Ba!- comments
Mom Your trip and experiences seem Amazing. Love the blogs and the photos, so good to see u even if it's just photos .love u , miss u Have tons more fun.. xoxo
Jennifer Hicks John and I loved Laos-Luang Prabang is so much more laid back and friendly than Vietnam. Really cheap massages if you've got any sore muscles from swimming or tubing! Really recommend Three Elephants Cooking School, if it's still operating. Have an awesome time and look us up when you're back, Cynthia. Hi from Noah and Eli!