Rowdy River and a Cozy Capital

We left the stunning scenery of Nong Khiaw just in time, the village power went out and the rains were coming in hard.  We made the journey back to Luang Prabang, this time the ride was in a cushy mini bus with only a few other people and only took about 2.5 hours. Quite a difference to our 4 hour “jumbo” ride with the locals. From there we continued south to the backpacker’s enclave of Vang Vieng, a town whose only purpose seems to be to entertain the masses of spring break minded 20-somethings that flock there to float the river in inner tubes.  The mini-bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng was advertised to take 5 hrs….but it took about 8, after we encountered a few of the landslides Laos’ decrepit roads are known for.

When we arrived in Vang Vieng  we hadn’t expect any local culture, but still weren’t quite ready for the degree the town was westernized. Nearly every bar and restaurant had big screens playing non-stop reels of Friends, Family Guy or The Simpsons.  The town stayed open late into the night with clubs and river side bon-fires, which was quite a stark contrast to the otherwise quiet and often (curfew enforced) early ending nightlife of Laos.

Sue decided to rent a mountain bike to explore the beautiful surrounding misty karst, mountains and caves rather than join in the spring break/Sea-fair shenanigans. Graham on the other hand decided to fully embrace the torrid activities of the 20-somehtings  and floated the river, which consisted of a few miles of fast water lined with bamboo bars on either side every 50 yards. The bartenders would throw out lines for you to grab and drag you across the current into the bar. Many had water slides, rope swings, water balloon launchers or any other number of things to entertain (or hurt) the mobs of backpackers. Due to the aquatic nature of the adventure, Graham wasn’t  able to take any photos,  but it was quite a lot of fun…..for exactly one day. Many people had somehow managed to stay put in Vang Vieng for several weeks, floating the river day after day… what a waste of time in a foreign land.

Our “Pink Elephant” that brought 12 of us over the mountains to Vang Vieng, she was a champ in the mud.

The biggest mud slide of our journey. We had to wait about an hour (which was luckily quite short) for the heavy machinery to finish clearing a path. If you’re unlucky enough to hit one of these in the early morning or late evening  you might be waiting there for 5+ hours.

The view from our place on the river, for about $6 a night.

Rice paddies and mountains on Sue’s cycle out in to nature.

Local man hauling some goods up river.

The cliff side containing a creepy, spider infested cave. Yay! 

Besides spiders, there was also a cave Buddha.

The streets of town were lined with little wheeled carts that would dish out the best "pancakes" These two were banana inside with peanut butter outside. Watching them cook we learned the secret....about 2-3 table spoons of butter apiece. Hang over cure anyone?

Sunset from the balcony.

We bid adieu to the mindlessness (or at least a lack of brain cells)  of Vang Vieng and traveled to the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Once again we were a little surprised by the rather small and quaint nature of the county’s “biggest” cities. Despite the oppressive heat we rented some bikes and managed to see some of the country’s more famous monuments and temples as well as some good Indian food (we were getting a little sick of the often basic Lao food) 

The beautiful Pha That Luang. Considered the most important national monument in Laos, as a symbol of both Buddhist religion and the sovereignty of Laos.

Patuxai (Victory Monument) looks a bit like the arc de triumph. Built in 1969 with cement donated by the US for building runways, its since been given the nickname "the vertical runway".

Wat Si Saket, built in 1818, small niches in the inner wall contain more 2000 little images of Buddha and more 300 seated and standing Buddhas line the wall and courtyard, some as old as 1400's.

A couple monks on a walk by the shores of the Mekong.

Next up: Vietnam.