Lao Laos

On Sunday, November 8th we left Stung Treng for the Laos border. Got through to Laos and went straight to Don Det, one of the 4,000 islands on the Mekong River. We took a small boat to the island and found a bungalow for about $2 a night. From there, we rented some bikes and rode around the island and then also crossed the bridge to Don Khon. Historical tidbit: This bridge was the first bridge built by the French in Laos. We saw the amazing Liphee waterfall, and then I rode around the rest of the island. It took me a little longer than I thought it would, so by the time I got back to the bungalow it was dark. We had an amazing dinner at an Indian restaurant and went to bed at around 10 because the generator was turned off at 9pm.

On Monday, I woke up at 7am and rented a bike again. I rode it to the bottom of Don Khon and rented a boat for an hour. I got to see a few of the fresh-water Irrawaddy Dolphins just swimming around the river. Then I just rode around the island and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. Got back to the bungalow after riding the bike on a flat tire for the last 30 minutes and then we had another amazing dinner at the same restaurant.

Tuesday, we took the boat back to the mainland and got a minivan to Pakse which is a transfer city to Vientiane. We took our first sleeper bus to Vientiane and ended up getting there at 5am. We found a guesthouse that let us check in at 6:30am so we stayed there for $9 a night. We took a nap, went to the Vietnam Embassy and applied for our Visas. We rented a motorbike and saw the Royal Stupa (That Luang) and then headed 25 km outside of the city to the amazing Buddha Park. It is a small park with hundreds of religious statues all over. We got back and bought our bus ticket for Vang Vieng for the next morning.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the delicious Scandinavian Bakery and got on the bus at 10:30. We got to Vang Vieng at around 2pm and checked into a guesthouse for about $4.50/night. We rented an inner tube and took a tuk-tuk up to the top of the river. From there, it was plain madness. Bars all along the riverbank giving out free shots. Trapeeze swings and zip-lines to jump into the river. Water slides 20-30 feet above the water. Lots of fun, although the bruises on my body after a couple of days would tell you differently. I might have landed awkwardly a few times and my body was sore for about 4 days after we left Vang Vieng.

Friday morning I woke up around 8 to go see a couple of caves. I rented a bike and took off. The first cave was about 10-15 minutes away, and it was a pretty average cave. It had lights and a pathway installed so it didn't feel very "authentic".
The second cave was a lot better. It was about 45 minutes away and it had an amazing blue lagoon in the front of it. There was also a tree with ropes hanging from it where you could swing into the lagoon or jump off from one of the branches.
I went up into the cave and followed a guide for an hour, then came out and started jumping, swinging, and diving into the lagoon. It was absolutely amazing.
I went back to meet up with Sara at 1pm, and we had lunch before heading back up to the top of the river. We didn't rent inner tubes this time, so we just floated down the river. This way, we didn't have to be back before 6pm to return them and actually hung out at the last bar until about 7pm.

The next day, we woke up early and caught the bus for a 7 hour ride North to Luang Prabang. It's a nice little town with a large French influence. The last few years however it has become very touristy with specialty shops with expensive artifacts and souvenirs. We were there for 2 nights, just hanging out. We went and visited a really beautiful waterfall called Kuang Si one day. It actually has a bear rescue center there also so it was fun to see some bears while we were there.

After a couple of days there, we took the night bus back to Vientiane which wasn't too bad. Got in at 4:30am and it started raining but we were able to find a little stoop with a roof overhead to wait it out. We tried to nap until about 7am when we went to our favorite bakery (Scandinavian Bakery) and had breakfast. We bought our bus ticket to Hanoi and went around to finish up our errands. Got our Visa from the Vietnam Embassy, then finished seeing the sights in Vientiane. Saw the war museum which was pretty cool. At 7pm, the bus picked us up and we were off to Hanoi. The next 24 hours were the longest, slowest of my life....
Coming up...Vietnam