Vientiane

     Although it’s the capital of Laos, there isn’t really too much to do in Vientiane. I was lucky and got to see Hunter for a few hours when I arrived before he left for Vietnam. There are of course plenty of temples that can be visited if you aren’t already “templed out” which I have been for quite some time. There is a massive market by the bus station offering everything from food such as fruits and vegetables(some I’d never seen before) and slabs of meat that I don’t actually want to see, to clothes and just about anything else one could need or want, we saw mostly locals at the market; not many tourists which was nice. In the center there are plenty of cafes and eateries and hostels and guesthouses so there is no problem finding a place to stay and food to eat in any price range. Most things are within walking distance but no tuk tuk driver will tell you that! One day we walked out to Laos' most important National Monument that is a massive golden uhhhh tall thing. No idea! Temple perhaps?

 This is quite a far walk from the main streets of town but on the way you see the Laos version of the Arc di Triomphe and you get a feel for the city as well. After that we went to a temple that does free meditation with monks once a week and we were lucky enough to be in town to go on that day. It was a peaceful hour long meditation consisting of seated and walking meditations.

      The river is quite nice and the sunset from there is incredible as well. Just after the sunset, back up on the sidewalk, we found large groups of Laotian people doing aerobics! Their instructor up on a table with a headset yelling and cheering competing with the upbeat music like Aqua playing loudly from the speakers nearby. We joined in and came back the next day to do it again! It was a blast and actually a good workout. There are bars and and a cool night market just along the river as well. 

    We spent our Valentine's day ( I was with 4 other girls) sipping cocktails, getting pizza, and then going to the store for ice cream and oreos and running back to our hostel so it wasn't all melty and then we ate that ice cream and oreos faster than you can say "we dont need no men!" It was a great night and one of the best Valentine's days I've ever had. 

     You don't need too many days here but a couple is nice just as a stopping point whether you're going further up north or down south.

 

Now in Laos

     After a two day slow boat upon entering Laos, I arrived in Luang Prabang where I spent the next 4 nights. From there you can easily get a tuk tuk to a gorgeous waterfall that you can hike all the way up around and swim in the lower pools at the bottom and at the same site there is a bear rescue center that you can watch the bears play around from and it's a really lovely way to spend an afternoon. In the center of town, there's a large hill you can climb with a temple and a nice viewpoint at the top. There isn't too much else you can do in the city besides visit a few temples and go to Utopia but it is a nice place to relax and the night market is really great! Loads of different sandwiches which were nonexistent in Thailand! I stayed at SpicyLaos and the beds are cheap and you meet so many cool people.

sleepy bears

From the top of the waterfall

     From Luang Prabang I took a 3 hour bus to Nong Kiaw with a couple friends and then a boat that's only supposed to take an hour to Muang Noi. Ours took quite a bit longer because it was broken and they had to stop to fix it numerous times. But on our little adventurous boat, I swear Rizzo from Grease was riding along with us, when she lit up her cigarette it was like an epiphany. The village of Muang Noi is incredible. It's small and local and full of locals and plenty of guesthouses, you can do lots of hikes and kayaking and other outdoor activities from here. We went for a swim in the Nam Ou River, trying to reach the other side but we didn't quite make it so we turned around and went back! This river is much cleaner than the Mekong. Our hotel had a deck with a couple hammocks on it so that's where I chose to sleep for the night. :)

 

Inside one of caves

 The next morning after a huge buffet breakfast at our hotel (eating enough to keep me full past lunch time), a couple little Laos kids came in my room and after playfully growling at them they can in and we played and laughed and jumped on the bed for awhile until they got called downstairs by their mum. After I finished my interrupted packing, I left my backpack with a couple guys in town and took my small pack on a few hour hike to a village way out in the countryside. On the walk I passed a couple caves so I went in to explore! They were fun but I'm always afraid of these giant spiders that I hear about in caves so I was totally freaked that I would see one. But luckily I had no encounters. I did however try to help some guys in a field look for snakes. We didn't find any, but when I left one of them asked me out on a date that night to eat snake! haha too bad I wasn't staying in the same village, could have been a good time ;) The little village that I stayed in takes about an hour and a half to walk to and it is well worth every step.

     It's small and you have to wade through a river to get there. It's a little collection of home made bamboo houses with lots of chickens, pigs, dogs and children running around. Everyone smiles and you're easily welcomed into their lives. I spent time playing with the kids and meeting some of the locals. I was amazed by the children; some who were entertaining themselves by rolling a tire down the path and hitting it with a stick to keep it going, and others who had tied a piece of string to a plastic bag and were running around with it like a kite, their faces bright with excitement. I love seeing how people with so little can be so perfectly content and even happier and less wanting than so many others who have more than them. But they are not less fortunate, in ways of the heart I'd say they are even more fortunate, more pure. In the evening we played bocce ball and learned how to cook a few different dishes which we ate that night while enjoying some jungle tea. Sitting around the fire was a perfect end to the day and we went to sleep happily in our little bamboo huts.

     We received a lovely awakening from the roosters at 4 A.M. but luckily I was able to drift off again till we got up at 6 to walk back to the main village and catch the boat back, and then bus. And once I was in Luang Prabang I got another bus for 5 hours down to Vang Vieng. It was windy and upset my stomach a bit but at the stopping point I got some papaya (good for the stomach) and put my music in and the combination of those plus a brilliantly red glowing sunset over the distant hills was enough to put anyone in a euphoric state with no more problems. Peace to all :)