Laos! Wat a wonderful country : ) We went in with high hopes since we had heard amazing things about it from Sarah Grant, and it more than lived up to expectations. We arrived in Vientiane, the capital, and were immediately shocked the how calm and relaxed it felt, especially compared to the craziness that was Siem Reap. The country as a whole has a lot of French influence, which meant we could eat croissants, baugettes, and Lao food all in one meal. Amazing! The capital was right on the Mekong River and beautiful. We sadly missed the festival for Pha That Luang, aka the Great Stupa, the sight to see in Laos. We saw the aftermath though and it looked like a serious party.
We hung out there for a couple days and then bused it to Vang Vieng. Usually know for it's crazy parties and a backpacker hangout, it quite a bit calmer then we had heard. The town sits in the middle of giant gorgeous green mountains that shoot up out of now where. Pat said he felt like he was in Jurassic Park. There are bars all over the main strip and is a strange mix of very Western things (pizza, any food you want, cocktail "buckets", and re-runs of Friends, Family Guy, and South Park on big TVs), but at the same bar you can sit on a deck overlooking the Mekong, the mountains, drink a Beer Lao and be in instant paradise. We spent longer than we planned here, relaxing, floating down the river in tubes (used to be a huge party scene, but the gov shut all the river bars down a few months ago), visiting caves, and lagoons, and just soaking it all in. Again, relaxed is a way of life in Laos.
We finally left to visit our last city in Laos, Luang Prabang. Quickly became one of out most favorite places, and again, we stayed longer than anticipated : ) Tons of French influence here, so walking down the street felt like we were in Southern France and Asia all at once. Baguette sandwiches with Sweet Chili Sauce became a large part of our diet. We visited two beautiful waterfalls-one smaller that we could bike to, and one huge one a little out of town. Tad Thong, the smaller one, was beautiful and peacefull. It had just re-opened 2 months prior so we were some of the only people there while hiking up it. Kuang Si, the bigger one, was incredible, full of pools and ropeswings to play in. We hiked the straight up journey to the top, which reminded me how out of shape I am : ) But the pools were the best reward we could have asked for. It was a bittersweet goodbye to Luang Prabang. We met a lot of fun people and I could have easily spent the rest of our time there. But Thailand was calling!
We we got back on a bus at 7 pm last night and arrived weary but safe to Chiang Rai today at 10:00 am. As our bus was getting ready to leave, we were amazed at how many people kept getting on, even though the seats were quickly filling up. Easy fix though- the driver pulled out mini plastic chairs they put in the isle to pack as many people in as possible. The seats were small and cramped (Pat and I were thankfull we were short last night) and the road was bumpy and winding. But whenever I felt myself complaining inside, I would think...well, at least I'm not in a plastic mini chair in the isle...
In Chiang Rai just for the night, then off to Chiang Mai tomorrow. Excited to by in Northern Thailand and see what Chiang Mai is all about. One more week in Thailand and then it's off to Australia!! Have we really only been gone 2 months??? Still blows my mind...
It's about 6 here, and I can already tell it will be an early night : ) Thinking of you all as we sit in the internet cafe with Christmas Carols in the background. A little harder to get in the spirit when its 90 degrees out, but I'm sure it will come.
Lots of love, eat some Christmas cookies for me.
