6/25/13

Vang Vieng-> Luang Prabang

Saibadee!

That means hello. :)

Yesterday can be summed up like this: 7 hours driving in twisted mountain roads in the rain.

We got up to have breakfast at the hotel. I have now had eggs and bread every morning for a week. I really could go for some Cap'n Crunch or Coco Puffs, but I digress.

We boarded our tour van and set out about 8:30. We headed up to the mountains. The roads were super wet and super curvy. We witnessed the aftermath of 2 car crashes, likely that the cars went too fast and skidded along the road.

We passed through several little mountain towns. At 10:30, we made our first rest stop. Our guide gave us the option to have lunch there but we were all not very hungry yet so we continued on.

We stopped again around 12:30 at a little roadside kitchen. I would call it a restaurant but the only thing that made it a restaurant was that there was a menu and lots of benches. I ordered a noodle soup with chicken and a Coke. It was probably the best soup I've had so far and it only cost about $1.50. We got back into the van and continued for another 4 hours.

The roads were so twisty that I was starting to get nauseous and get a headache. At one point I was literally planning out the best way to barf in the van. I decided that I would just open the window and do it out the side but luckily I didn't have to.

We got to our hotel in Luang Prabang in the early afternoon. Laura and I got a room with two huge beds. Turns out most of the others got small rooms with small beds and tiny bathrooms. We just lucked out, I guess.

At 6:30, we met up for dinner. Chen told us we would be having street food. My first thought was "uh oh." We walked about 15 minutes and turned down a covered side street. There were big bowls of prepared food and lots of different meats and fish. You are given a plate that you fill up with as much food as you can fit. You then hand it to a woman who heats it all up in a pan. You then find an empty table and chow down. It only costs about $1.20. I won't go into details about the sanitation issues surrounding this area but let's just say it would probably not pass inspection back in the states... Okay it definitely wouldn't. But you just put it out of your mind and chow down!

After dinner a group of us headed to the night market. People have their easy-ups set up with their goods for sale and ready to haggle. I bought a few things, including a painting that I had rolled up. I plan on decorating my bedroom with an Asian theme so I thought it would be cool to pick up a couple things here that might look good.

After buying about 6 things and realizing I had only spent under $20, we made our way back to the hotel. Since it was early, only about 9, I decided to Skype my parents and fill them in on what I've been up to. After Skyping, I heard Kristine scream out in the front sitting area where she was sitting with Laura. A woman was leaning over her grunting and kept getting closer and closer to her face. We called over the guy sitting at the reception desk who shooed her away. He told us she was a local "mad" woman who wanders the streets at night. Kristine was really freaked out but Laura and I couldn't stop laughing especially because I took a picture as it was happening.

I decided then it was shower time and time for bed because we wanted to make sure we were rested enough to ride the elephants in the morning.

I'm so glad that long can ride is over! Next thing to worry about- the homestay in 2 nights in a house with no electricity and only a squat toilet. Thank goodness it's only for one night! :)

Until next time!!

PS I'll be off the grid for a couple days! Heading down the Mekong River tomorrow, followed by a home stay in a local village, then onto Chiang Kong. I will update my blog as I get service! :)