It took about 30 hours to get from Koh Tao to the Tai-Laos border in the north. Boats, buses, trains, and tuk-tuk’s got me there and I sometimes wonder how people could stand to travel back when trains were the only means for long distance travel. The Mekong River forms the eastern border of Laos so I would have to cross Friendship Bridge to get there. I arrived just in time for they actually shut the border down at 9pm. The officials reluctantly allowed me to cross into Laos but I got through with no problem. It took awhile for me to find a guest house in Vientien (since it was high tourist season) but I eventually found a nice place that was off the beaten track. I slept like a rock that night and was happy to get a full nights rest after squeezing in mere hours of uncomfortable sleep on trains and buses.
There’s not much in Vientien but I walked around the town anyway just to see it. It lies along the Mekong River which I’m sure is pretty cool during the rainy season. The water level was very low when I arrived and less than exciting. On my way to a makeshift Arc Du Triumph (the French played a big part of the history of Laos) I found the best attraction in all of town. A buffet! What caught my attention to this buffet, however, was the price. For $5 one could eat all the Asian cuisine they could desire; even better, for an additional $2 one could throw back all the tapped Beer Lao or wine they could drink. Where else can you get such value? The restaurant was in a nice hotel that was full of westerners. So with not much to see or do, I spent a good 1.5 hours enjoying the sounds of Sinatra, Torme, and Tony Bennett while chasing spring roll after spring roll with glasses of red wine. I was reminded as to why Americans are so fat. I watched several different tourists make multiple trips to the buffet. I like to eat my fair share too, but many seemed to stuff their faces almost subconsciously. With my belly full and head happily buzzing, I strolled back to my GH room for a nice nap.
Vientien was very tame that night so I watched a movie at the GH. The next day I would be off for Vang Vieng for some ultimate tubing!
The bus picked me up at my GH in the morning as they usually do. The bus company makes its rounds through the town picking everybody up at their respective GH. We then proceeded to a dirt lot not but 5 minutes from where each of us started. It doesn’t make any sense but that’s just the way it works. At the dirt lot we were suppose to pick up an additional 10 people who were spill over from an earlier bus. All of them were upset since they were booted from their original bus (overbooked) and were reluctant to cooperate with our driver. We had room for some, but it required stacking everybody’s luggage on top (which I would regret having to do later) and cramming the 30-seater bus full. I even offered to give up my comfortable seat up front to a disgruntled lady knowing I could much better endure the cramped seat in the back. We loaded as many as we could but left a handful that refused to stuff it in with the rest of us.
I met several cool people on the rickety, bumpy bus ride to Vang Vieng. It took us 5 hours to make the trek. The terrain from Vientien all the way north to Kunming is mostly mountainous. With terrible infrastructure, the drive takes that much longer and leaves you shaken up like a DQ Blizzard. We arrived in the river city just before sundown. After unloading our bags, I noticed my cell phone was missing for I wanted to charge it before heading back to China. The only possible explanation I could think of was that it was shaken out of my pack along the drive. What can I say; cell phones and I go together like ham and tuna fish.
I was able to score a nice room with a beautiful view overlooking the river. I immediately noticed the small size of Vang Vieng and realized that the only thing keeping this place running was the river that ran beside it. Across the river, dubbed the ‘other side’, are beautiful meadows that lead up to some spectacular looking hills that are both jagged and lush. Built in a small portion of this meadow are some cool bungalows that I wished I’d seen before checking into my GH. I felt like I was in “Little House on the Prarie” standing next to a cow in between the two rows of primitive shacks where the guests stay.
The restaurants around town lure you in by playing episodes of Friends and Family Guy. They seemed to be the only two TV shows the Laos people knew. I like Family Guy and spent a better part of the evening enjoying my dinner and watching TV. I retired early having no desire to join the other tourists in getting drunk and partying all night. Unfortunately my once peaceful room with a nice view was now absorbing most of the blaring music that came from the ‘other side’. I sat on my balcony contemplating the sad irony of the situation. Here was a beautiful, primitive, peaceful Laos community that was being disrespected and destroyed by foreigners. We flair up ridiculous bon fires, blast pulsating noise into the air, and destroy the natural splendor that once was. As fun as that may be to some, it destroys an entire culture for others. Yet the people of this small town have come to depend on the same foreigners that destroy it. The restaurants rely on the masses of tourists to order up drinks and food. The GH’s need people to fill their rooms. And most of all, the whole community depends on tourists excited to float the river. There are various outfits with which to rent tubes, but they are all ultimately connected. Since the people depend on foreigners, I didn’t mind participating in the now foreign dominated town.
In the morning I rented my tube, loaded into the tuk-tuk with several other foreigners, and was on my way up the river. I was stoked having heard of the rope swings that line the river but had no idea what I was in for. The first quarter mile is lined with river-side bars, each with their own rope swing and one with a water slide. I cruised with some Italians and a couple of Germans. We took our time floating down the first half (didn’t have much of a choice since it was dry season and the river was low and slow). We spent a good two hours at a bar that had a rope-swing, zip-line, and the only water slide. The rope-swing was the tallest, flinging people an estimated 30 feet above the river. Naturally, I was like a kid in a candy shop. The place was basically a play ground for adults, and I looooove playgrounds! I would fling myself off the rope swing, climb back up the shore, then slide down the water slide laughing and splashing the whole time. The most fun we had was laughing at some foreign girl who held onto the zip-line too long. She went zooming by as we all watched; then without warning, the zip-line hit its end sending her into an immediate flip. She performed a one-and-a-half back flip before smacking into the river. She was alright, but her shoulders had to have been sore the next day. Fortunately, nothing bad happened to me despite pulling some gnarly flips and big air layouts off of the rope swing. You would think that after my ear incident that I would have been more cautious, but what’s life without a little risk?
Most people get absolutely drunk floating the river, but I was happy to be sober and still having the most fun. After the last bar we made the 1.5 mile float back to town. It was very slow, but peaceful and relaxing. I had tamed the VangVieng float! That night I enjoyed a nice hammock by one of the bonfires just gazing up at the stars. Not only had I conquered VangVieng, I was fulfilling my dream of seeing the world. I had been traveling the past 3.5 weeks. I had some incredible experiences, seen places unlike any other on earth, and made friends from all over the globe. I took over 800 pictures, mostly of the scenery; but it will be the people that I met along the way that will stick with me forever.
The next morning I started an epic 48 hour, multi-bus trip back to Kunming. I had to stay the night in Luang Prabang but fortunately was able to catch a direct bus to Kunming the next morning. I met a hilarious Russian guy who spoke very little English and hardly any Chinese. I don’t know how he got around but he was very funny and friendly. Crossing back into China was a struggle. By the end of my trip, I desired more to return to the US than to go back to China. My fun was over and now I was headed to 14 hours a week of teaching English. Relatively speaking, that’s not bad. I guess I just wish to see my friends back home again.
Now I stare down 4.5 months of work both teaching and studying. I think it will be a positive experience, but I also hope it will go fast. I have my eyes on the horizon and the US in sight!
Pictures: http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/2688277/1/Vientien-Vangvieng?h=7aec7b
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