We were wary of the loud Irish trio that boarded the bus with open Beer Laos at 8 am, and a bag full for the road, but they turned out to be hilarious and fun, even if they were drunks (at least until their Beer Lao ran out and they hit the wall, passing out on each other's shoulders). We shared more than a few Beer Laos and a drinking game with them once we got off the bus right outside the bus station. We also encountered a chic, very cool, very young group of Thai teenagers when we had to stop due to a truck running off the road down a hill. We plan to hang with them when we return to Bangkok as that is where they are from. The backup included passenger buses, cars, and semis full of food and the like - the myriad motorbikes flew threw the mess. We walked up to the blockage and saw that some people were attempting to pull the truck up the hill with a rusty old winch strapped to a rusty old truck, which could only have moved the downed truck a combined total of about 6 feet (it must have been 40 or 50 feet down the hill) so we and a few others were a bit perplexed. They gave up and we went on our way. I hope someone figured it out and was able to help!
In Laos and Thailand, "phalong" means white foreigner and in Vang Vieng there were way too many drunk, under dressed, loud, rude ones. As you walk down the main drag you can see multiple restaurants playing Family Guy or Friends over and over on big T.V.s for the foreigners. It felt a bit like the Twilight Zone for us, but we figured out that many people just head straight there to get drunk and tube down the river, taking shots and drinking beers at various bars as they pass by. I (Devon) was feeling sick with a bad head cold so we skipped it, and we are both glad. We ended up running into a wonderfully sweet girl from Holland and exploring the surrounding rice fields and authentic villages full of skinny cows, water buffalo and dirty dogs and cats. We ended up trekking through the rice paddies to the base of some of the beautiful cliffs to a dark, dank cave dripping with life. It was fun adventure. I got bit by the largest ant you have ever seen (not poisonous) and almost lost my footing and fell in a very dirty, muddy stream, but our new friend from Holland saved me.
We luckily found a beautiful guest house called the Mountain River View with hard wood everywhere and a lovely mountain and river view (go figure). Sunsets were lovely and I did some Bikram on the deck, seeing as it was nearly 100 degrees anyway. It was cheap and off the beaten track so we didn't have to hear the drunk phalong partying into the wee hours of the morn. Two nights was enough as we didn't feel like joining the kitchy parties. We are glad we went just for the amazing views and beauty, but were happy to continue on our way and headed for Vientiane, the capitol city of Laos...
Love,
Devon and Breen
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