When we got back from our trek, we spent a day going to a waterfall. It was very beautiful and we climbed up to the top where there was a little spot to swim. We jumped off the rocks from ten feet up, which was kind of fun, but a little scary, too. It's always nerve racking swallowing (or taking up the nose) river water from a remote Asian country. It was a very wet day, but that was just a prelude for what was to come.

Cheryl and Lara, once again avoiding the tourist path, spent a morning in the countryside visiting a lovely working elephant. Dumbo usually hauls logs, but took time out of his busy schedule to haul falang instead. No saddle for these girls!! Mounting an elephant from a muddy bank can be quite a task. Cheryl's still giggling....

It was the Laos New Year and boy was it WET!!!! As in many Buddhist South East Asian countries, the new year signified the end of the dry season, and was marked with a water festival. Ryan hadn't been feeling well, and I lost Cheryl and Lara somehow, so I decided to go out and check out the first day activities myself. I took a little boat across the river. There were thousands of people there building stupas in the sand, selling food and throwing water!! Not only were they throwing Mekong water from buckets and water guns, but they were also wiping lipstick, mud and lots of tapioca on everyone! Somehow, god only knows how, Cheryl and Lara found me in the hoards. They were even more tarred and feathered than I was. It was time for revenge!! We bought a few bags of tapioca and went on a rampage. It was insane.

Back in the main part of the city, things continued to be very wet. People were tossing buckets of water from passing buses and second floor balconies. Within seconds of exiting the hostel we end up drenched, so there was no point in even changing our clothes for the few days. It's quite funny to see a row of monks up on the hill of a temple, shooting their super soaker water guns at every passer by!!

Cheryl and Lara only stayed for the first day and then headed back to Bangkok, but Ryan and I decided to stay for the full three days (though in Luang Prabang it actually goes on for seven). After three days, you get tired of being constantly wet and covered in tapioca, but I wanted to see the big, day-three parade. There were tons of girls in traditional dress, Buddhist monks, boys playing weird stick instruments and elephants. After the parade walked past us, we got swept along behind it for an hour, acquiring all the same decoration as the day prior to add to our attire. There was even some green unidentifiable paste and some balls of black/grey goo.

Meanwhile Lara and Cheryl were having much the same experience in Bangkok. Replace the tapioca with talcum powder and you have all the ingredients to make a Thai new year and they said it was quite an experience seeing everything on Khao San closed and the Farang (we're in Thailand now) looking whiter than usual.

Ryan and I took the night bus from Luang Prabang down to Vientiane and then took an overnight train to Bangkok. Aside from a little vomiting (never eat the train food), it all went off without a hitch. We missed each other in Bangkok, but we all had a get-well visit in common. One of our English mates thought he'd get a much nicer view from the top of a train, and now he's getting views from a hospital bed. You see, some people get insurance and use it!!

It felt good to be back in Thailand, so more stories soon!