220) Caves and Rope Swings

If I could sum up Vientiang in a few words, they would be: caves, rope swings, drugs and alcohol. My experience was limited to the caves and rope swings. The caves and rope swings were plenty enough on their own- and the injuries seem to occur when mixing in the alcohol (or mushrooms). The other odd (but main) attraction was Friend’s and Family Guy cafes. They just played non-stop episodes of the shows and they always had people in them- presumably stoners that just lay there (the seats are designed for lounging) from open to close. (Above photo: a storm brewing on the walk back from the caves)



The caves were incredible. I cannot think of many places in this day and age that will just allow any body to pay about one dollar for an entrance fee, and then just leave you on your own to explore a cave. For safety and my own personal comfort I went with people while exploring the caves- seems a bit risky to do it on your own.



One of the best caves was one you had to swim in. It wasn’t huge, but it went back a couple hundred meters into complete blackness, so we needed headlamps. The water looked like it was pulled out of the Caribbean and the inside was stunning. Large slabs of limestone split the cave in certain areas and in some places the bottom just dropped strait down to darkness- it was a very surreal feeling.


The other cave that is great is called Poukham Cave. Near the entrance and lit up by natural light is a golden reclining Buddha. The caverns in this cave were huge and beautiful, with lots of great formations. We wiggled through a wormhole in this cave only to find the other side declined in a funnel-like way into a black pit. This is scary when you go face first!


Poukham Cave also had a great “lagoon” that again had water that should have been in the Caribbean. There was a big tree that leant over the water and jumping was set up from two of the main branches, there is also a small rope swing that was fun.


One of the other main attractions of Vangvieng is tubing down the Nam Sang River. Along the side of the river are plenty of bars and most of the bars have their own rope swings one has a diving board and one has a giant slide.



The swings seem to get progressively bigger as you go down the river- the climax being the last swing. It was probably about 30 feet high, and could launch you about thirty feet above the river if you let go at the right time. It was a great thrill to do, and fun to watch people as they landed painfully on the water, or tried doing flips and landed on their face.



The tubing and river scene really seemed to make everybody kids again (but instead of getting wild on candy it was alcohol). This last picture is me with the owner of one of the bars, aparently he is saving up money to go to college.

219) Vangvieng (Enjoying the Views)

I got into Vangvieng a few days ago. It is a beautiful place- wonderful karst views and a great river to float down. The crowd this place attracts is interesting to say the least. Lots of people taking mushrooms and smoking weed, but despite that it is a great place to be.


The first day in Andrew and I hiked up a haystack hill that was full of jagged limestone and its own little cave. It was a nice little hike (and just outside of town through some rice paddies) with some really great views.


We only planned to stay three nights, but we have really enjoyed this place so we stayed an extra day, and tonight will be the last night. The main attractions to Vangvieng seem to be tubing down a river that is full of bars and rope swings, going to caves and swimming in unbelievably beautiful swimming holes- we were lucky enough to do all of them.

218) Last Days in Luang Prabang

I have been traveling with an American named Andrew from the last few days. We met when he joined my bus heading to Luang Prabang halfway through the trip- he and one other guy were standing on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere when we picked them up.






We split a room for our time in Luang Prabang and wandered around there, and now we are in Vangvieng.





Everyday I was in Luang Prabang I went down to the Mekong River and took pictures of the sunset. It is easy to find a secluded spot and just watch the sun go down and fishermen cast out some nets in hopes of a few more fish before heading home.




I heard about something called “snake whiskey” which is apparently some local lao lao (rice whiskey) with a cobra in the jar. Obviously that intrigued me, so Andrew and I had to go check out what the deal was.





It turned out to be run by an old man who when we first came upon him was looking like he was passed out in his hammock, but jumped to his feet when we woke him up and was very nice. I was expecting to see one or maybe two snakes in a whiskey bottle… that expectation was way off.










First off the jar he kept the concoction in was huge, and it was jammed with snakes, lizards, turtles, scorpions, centipedes and apparently anything else that haunts or fascinates a 10-year-old child. He even had one special jar with two rats in it… I wasn’t feeling that brave. The kicker is he apparently puts them all in there live and then stores it for three years before serving. Needless to say it was a bit of a rush and it went down hot!

217) Into Laos

The first few days in Laos did not start well at all. I made the huge mistake of not changing my Korean money in Thailand, and had to cross back to Thailand to change all my money the day after I got into Laos. Every bank in Thailand will exchange Korean won and apparently not one single bank in Laos will. Not only was that frustrating but it cost me some money that I have no room to be wasting on a something stupid like two visas.






The town of Ban Huay Sai was not thrilling, and having to spend an extra day there was not what I wanted to do, but had to anyways. There didn’t seem like much to do or see there so I was happy to get out.




After Ban Huay Sai I took a bus to Laung Namtha and transferred to Maung Sai on the same day. I got into Maung Sai at night and just found a place to spend the night, which was nice after a full day on busses. The country side we passed along the way was striking and beautiful and sad. The condition some people are living in is a huge reality check. Little villages full of naked kids, people washing themselves literally three feet from the road, pot belly pigs, chickens, trash and tiny little bamboo huts are all along the road, popping up every few miles or so.




I left early in the morning from Maung Sai to Nong Khieo. On the same bus was a Japanese guy named Tacomi and an Irish guy named Ed. We ended up staying at the same place in Nong Khieo and hung out there.




Nong Khieo is a beautiful little town with great scenery. There are great karst formations all around the town and the Nam Ou river flows through it separating the town in two halves. While there we went on a nice walk to some caves where the villagers hid when they were being bombed during the Vietnam war. Pretty interesting to see, and unimaginable to think about living in those caves while bombing raids were happening.



From Nong Khieo I headed six hours further up the Nam Ou to Maung Khoua. The boat ride up was beautiful, and a little wet (as the river has some rapids). It’s pretty impressive that the drivers can nagotiate the river with a long thin wooden boat like they do. Some areas look like you would need a raft to get through, but there were boats (and bamboo rafts) all along the river doing just fine. We passed a few villages, a lot of boys fishing and playing in the water and some water buffalo lounging on the banks.



Maung Khoua is an interesting little town. This town is also separated into two parts by rivers, but this time it is by a tributary to the Nam Ou. There is a big steal foot bridge that spans across the tributary river connecting the two sides. This town has some kind of different character than the others I have been to. They are in the process of getting a concrete road, and they only have electricity after 6pm. At night the town is dimly lit by the one or two lights hanging outside peoples homes. The businesses and other buildings are black leaving big dark gaps in areas of town. People seem understandably glued to the TVs at 6:00. The buildings are a lot more interesting and impoverished, but the people seem happy.



The first night I stayed in an absolute dump of a guesthouse and then decided to spend a little more for a great upgrade. The upgraded place is a little out of the town and situated about 100 feet on up on the bank of the tributary river, and it has a great view. It is nice to treat yourself to a nice room every once and while- it really helps out moral (and its only a few dollars more).




Now I am back in civilization in Laung Prabang. So far it is a pretty cool city.