Heading to Vang Vieng we drove for 7hours along a hilly, twisting, mountainous road. (Dad it was similar to our off-roading adventure in the Mojave Desert..only the roads were paved). I thought that sitting in the front seat would be a good idea to help prevent me from getting car sick. This was a bad idea. From the front seat I realized how crazy our bus drivers really was (and how much he loved to honk the horn). It was quite a nerve-wracking experience - instead of falling asleep I ended up gripping my arm rests for dear life as our driver passed huge trucks while going around blind corners at high speeds. There were many times where I would look down and see no edge beside the bus, and hope that by some miracle we would make it to safety. Eventually we did. (Photo: View from the bus along the mountainous route)
Vang Vieng is a major tourist town - according to our guide it is only really popular because Lonely Planet included it in their books as a good stopping point between Luang Prabang and Vientiane (the capital of Laos). While walking down the main street you are sure to see many tourists walking around with broken arms/casts/bandages. This, Sakai explained to us, is because of the only attraction in Laos - tubing (aka drunk tubing - some even take it as far as nude tubing) along the Mekong River. Sakai was strongly against the idea of any of us participating. As people float along the river they can grab onto bamboo poles and be pulled into bars to get drinks. There are many rope swings that people can jump off of as well, but when drunk it becomes quite dangerous. Sakai seemed to assume that anyone who did it would be abso
lutely drunk by the end - the fact that people might not drink didn't seem to occur to him.Instead of going tubing, a group of us headed to the Blue Lagoon. This was a beautiful, quiet haven with aqua-blue water and on the shore was a big area for picnics/tanning/hanging out. I jumped in using the swinging rope, but Laura, the daredevil in the group climbed up part of the tree that hangs over the water and jumped in from there. A local climbed all the way to the top, but he was just crazy! The water was cool and refereshing after a long day in the bus. (Photo: Jumping into the Blue Lagoon)
That evening Sakai showed us a bit of the night life. Rosie, Jessica, Andy, Tara, Kelly, June, and I went with him to a place called "Bucket Bar." Rosie, Jessica, and I ended up splitting a bucket drink (it was 10 000 kip for a whiskey & coke - this is about 1.50CAD!). We bought it more just to be able to say we had such a cheap drink! On our way to the hotel we ran into more people from our group who had gone for massages - an hour massage can cost anywhere from 100-250 baht! That is only about 3.50-9 CAD/hour! Unheard of in Canada!
Driving to Vientiane the next day was similar to the drive the day before, only it was 3 hours. Some people decided to kayak the distance, but luckily the majority of us took the bus
because it started to rain in the afternoon and it would have been miserable to be paddling in a pelting rainstorm. (It is nearing the beginning of the wet season now). Rosie and I got caught in the rain, but luckily a woman gave us a big palstic bag for our cameras/passports/money/etc. so we could run back to the hotel and meet our group for dinner. Vientiane was our last stop before heading back to Bangkok, and we had lots of time to explore before leaving the next day.
We ended the trip with quite the adventure while trying to cross the Laos-Thailand border and catch the overnight train back to Bangkok. After loading the bus with our gear, we were informed that the driver had no passport and therefore could not take us across the border(as was the original plan). He stopped in the middle of the road, told us to get out, and then called another bus for us. To everyone's dismay this new driver didn't have a passport either!! Sakai was getting quite frustrated at this point, seeing as we were going to be tight for time and could possibly miss the train (which would mean we'd be stuck on an overnight bus!). Luckily we made it through the border quickly, but then had to wait about 20minutes for a shuttle bus to take us across Friendship Bridge into Thailand. Although we were first in line, the bus stopped further along, allowing all the Thais to get on first. Pushing and shoving our way through, our whole group somehow managed to get on! A man even gave up his seat for me! (I was definitely not expecting that - I had almost cut him off in the scramble to get on the bus, but luckily I hadn't and he was nice to me in return). Once in Thailand we had to arrange for sohng taos to take us the short distance to the train station. We raced along, watching the luggage teeter on the sohng tao in front of us, ready to jump out and catch any falling bags. (Photo: On the bottom bunk of the overnight train, cuddling up to my bags before going to sleep)
We ended the trip with quite the adventure while trying to cross the Laos-Thailand border and catch the overnight train back to Bangkok. After loading the bus with our gear, we were informed that the driver had no passport and therefore could not take us across the border(as was the original plan). He stopped in the middle of the road, told us to get out, and then called another bus for us. To everyone's dismay this new driver didn't have a passport either!! Sakai was getting quite frustrated at this point, seeing as we were going to be tight for time and could possibly miss the train (which would mean we'd be stuck on an overnight bus!). Luckily we made it through the border quickly, but then had to wait about 20minutes for a shuttle bus to take us across Friendship Bridge into Thailand. Although we were first in line, the bus stopped further along, allowing all the Thais to get on first. Pushing and shoving our way through, our whole group somehow managed to get on! A man even gave up his seat for me! (I was definitely not expecting that - I had almost cut him off in the scramble to get on the bus, but luckily I hadn't and he was nice to me in return). Once in Thailand we had to arrange for sohng taos to take us the short distance to the train station. We raced along, watching the luggage teeter on the sohng tao in front of us, ready to jump out and catch any falling bags. (Photo: On the bottom bunk of the overnight train, cuddling up to my bags before going to sleep)Somehow we made it to the train station, and caught our bus. It ended up being delayed anyways! It was about a 12 hour ride, and although we had beds it was hard to sleep because whenever the train woudl stop it would beso abrupt that your head would hit the side of your compartment. I slept curled around my bags to ensure nothing went missing. By 6:30 the next morning, we had made it back to Bangkok, Thailand, and I was ready to leave my group behind and embark on the rest of my journey alone.
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