Laos is Legit!

After somewhat rushing through Cambodia and seeing all the major tourist sites, it is refreshing to be in a place where we can just kick our feet up and relax with some breathtaking scenery to gaze at all day. Our first stop in Laos was Vang Vieng. The three of us actually heard about this place exactly one year ago from some backpackers at our hostel in Rome. They described a paradise where you can rent giant inner tubes and float down this river with bars littered along the shores. And to my surprise, it turned out to be just like this too-good-to-be-true description.


We stayed at a guesthouse that boasted this view from the balcony and a postcard- worthy sunset every evening that we stayed there. It made for a great setting to digest the day and enjoy a little BPS (beer. peanuts. sunset.). Two days in a row we were dropped off a few kilometers upstream and had the afternoon to float and choose which bars to stop off at to have a drink and a go at the ropeswing or zipline into the river. We stepped it up a little on the second day and went on a full day tour through a village and got to tube into a completely dark cave. After the BBQ lunch, we jumped on kayaks to speed through some new rapids and back to the familiar part of the river in time for the afternoon beer and ropeswing. Absolutely EPIC!

The only downside to this welcoming and slow paced Laos lifestyle is the direct correlation to their transportation. The busses have been arduous, and typically twice as long as advertised, but hey, the scenery is one of a kind, and by now I have learned that it takes quite a bit more than a slow bus to get our spirits down.

FYI- we are now in Luang Prabang, Laos where we plan on scouting out the city for a few days before taking the 2-day slow boat up the Mekong to northern Thailand. After that, its south until we hit Singapore. More video and pics will be up as soon as we find some decent internet around here!