Laurie's World

safe and sound and tired in vancouver airport!! So close….

Already feeling more peaceful now that we are back in Thailand…checked into the Thong Ta Hotel for the night….gonna go get some food and hopefully one last massage!!

It is Friday July 20th and we are still in Vientiene, Laos. We have had breakfast….which was lame even by my low standards…so already looking forward to lunch! We scoped out a place yesterday a few doors down that has a lunch buffet. Gonna give that a whirl. To say I have been underwhelmed by the food in Laos would be over stating it! The only redeeming meals we have had are the sandwiches from the sandwich ladies on the street in Luang Prabang and the 2 Indian meals we had in Luang Prabang that were outstanding. Maybe we have just been spoiled by the Thai food I don’t know…but as you can tell by the shift in the content of my blog entries…I hardly ever talked about food since we got to Laos….but talked about it pretty much every day in Chiang Mai. I think that says all it needs to say…

Not overly impressed with the hotel here either. Staying at the Family hotel right now….breakfast was a waste of my energy going downstairs, just as i was about to put the room temp milk on my little bowl of cornflakes, Troy said “watch out for the ant on the rim of your glass”. I got it just as i was tipping the glass….and the other 2 that were also there…could easily have missed more…but good thing i am chillaxed about these things. The Laurie from 5 years ago would have screamed and left! The A/C is also terrible…barely takes the edge off the heat…and no fan. Sigh! This is the first hotel in all four years we have been doing this and I am sure over 50 hotel rooms that the A/C hasn’t worked well enough to keep us comfortable.

I am so glad we shifted the days so we had more time in Luang Prabang and only one day here…initially we were planning for 2. I often think it is good to have the end of the trip be a place you don’t mind leaving….so that it is easier to come home….otherwise I just might stay forever. Assuming my baby girls would come be here with me of course ; ))

In summary, I am SO glad we came to Laos, I would go back to Luang Prabang in a heart beat (and most likely will, given its relative proximity to Chiang Mai)…but won’t be coming back to Vang Vieng or Vientiene….

We fly to Bangkok this afternoon via Laos Air and then overnight there at the same hotel we o/nighted at on the front end of our trip. Then up and at it early in the morning as we have to be at the airport at 6am for our flight home. Arriving in Woodinville around supper time Saturday : ))

Forgot to blog about this….

Vang Vieng has reputation for a lot of guest houses and bars (actually that is pretty much 50/50 what it is made up of). Plus it is said that all the bars have TVs (which is true) and that they’re playing either “Family Guy” reruns or “Friends” reruns at blaringly loud volume. This is actually true and I have proof.

Yesterday after we went walking around a bit….it started to rain….a lot of rain….so we went down to one of the bars that has mats and cushions, where you take your shoes off and just chill ax! We ate first and we had a special friend come sit with us….I have no IDEA why cats like us so much…they just seem to!

We actually moved to comfy area after we ordered….not sure if our pal was going to stick around or not…

I actually dozed off for a bit….I guess I was tired ; )

But I did stay awake long enough to prove we were watching family guy.

Each bar has at least 2 TVs….some have more…..it’s crazy!

I have made a discovery that while there are many differences between Laos and Woodinville, there are also many similarities. As I was wondering around Vang Vieng, I noticed that we have many similar shops and services available.

For instance…here is the Hairmasters salon

We did not need haircuts at this time…but if we had….we could certainly have scheduled an appointment!

Brooklyn will be interested to know that there is a Walgreens…it goes by another name but essentially it is the same shop. I in fact found a couple different Walgreens. Maybe one was Rite Aid…not sure.

I found the Sunglass Hut…cuz it is very bright here….the sun IS out pretty much all the time!

There is a Target if you need almost anything….clothing, batteries, scissors

There is a mysterious shop that I can’t quite find a name for…it is like a cross between Shucks Automotive and Home Depot.

Of course there is the classic 7-11 if all you need is a quick snack or cold drink.

Now….The mechanic…not an auto mechanic…but your basic bike guy….everyone is going to go there at one time or another….we go to Play it Again Sports when we need a bike repaired.

Oh! I also found the 520 bridge…a toll bridge just like ours ; ) we, as pedestrians, had to pay 4,000 kip each to cross (that is 50 cents). And we had to stop and actually pass the money over to a person….they have not adopted the “Good to go” automated system here yet.

The was also an I-90 bridge that was free….how nice….

Oh yeah….and if I need a ride somewhere…I guess I knock on this guys window?

So our day started out great…took a picture of the bears before we got all packed up for our bus trip to Vientiene.

They enjoyed their time at the Elephant Crossing…but probably won’t be back….since I am not sure that I will be coming back ; )

We had scheduled our tuk tuk pick up for the VIP bus to be 9:30am with an anticipated departure of 10:00am for the actual bus. We said good bye to our new friends, the Hairs, and headed off. The tuk tuk had 11 people in it by the time it was deemed full…pretty impressive!

Photo a little foggy as the camera had just come out of air con room and they take a while to unfog…

What we did notice was that the crowd leaving Vang Vieng is a lot rougher around the edges, shall we say, than the crowd coming into Vang Vieng. Every single one of these young folks looked half dead, sleep deprived and seriously hung over. Very somber crown the entire way…this lot ended up looking just like every other passenger on the bus (except for us chipper older folk who went to bed at sensible time the night before : ))))

Here is our obligatory bus shot!

The good news is….the bus only left 20 minutes late….and it took exactly 2 hours and 59 minutes….so we got into the Vientiene bus depot at 1:19pm! Grabbed a tuk tuk people mover to city center for 40,000 kip and we were on our way to the next pit stop of our amazing race : )

The challenge then became…..how to find our hotel bcz the shuttle thing we took just dropped us off at “city center” between a map on a post, a map in another traveler’s lonely planet Laos book and our recollections of what Ian had told us (and oh yeah….one quick stop into a Thai airways storefront) we found our hotel and got checked in.

By 2:30 we were on our way out the door to look for a quick snack and high hopes of finding some cool stuff to look at. We did indeed do just that.we walked down to the Mekong River and the was a Park with this big statue…no idea what it is though…

In a bakery we saw this little goodie….Could hardly believe it! The Canadians will recognize this!

I did not actually have one bcz they were also offering mangos crumb pie….which sounded like something I could not make at home….so i went with that option!

The is also an Arc de Triomphe replica built here…so we went to see that. You can climb up inside and get a very nice view of the city….

We also tried to be law abiding tourists and follow the rules on the signs….but it was hard bcz there was grass all over the place and it was hard not to pass it.

Here’s me in the guard shack outside the presidential palace…

Anyway…
On the way back we might have gotten a teeny bit lost….but it is funny now as we are all tucked safely in our room…but at the time, my feet were getting a little sore and I was getting hungry….we stopped and asked a few times for directions….but the English here is not so good…so were basically on our own. When we got back into tourist area, we asked a tuk tuk driver (he didn’t really want to tell us–he wanted to charge 50,000 kip to drive us) but Troy sweet talked him and he gave us some hand gestures for directions…

So kinda glad we are only here for one night as we fly to Bangkok tomorrow afternoon to get ready for the long flight home early Saturday morning…

This town is not huge by any stretch of the imagination, population around 250,000 despite being the capital of Laos….but it is far bigger than the last 2 towns we were in and it just doesn’t ring my bell…

…..than anywhere else we have been in SE Asia. We have been very purposeful in avoiding the “over the top, debaucherous, drunken, touristy” locations….but somehow we ended up here in Vang Vieng. The BIG thing to do here is rent an inner tube, get in a tuk tuk, and have them drive you a few km up the road where they drop you off at the river’s edge and you float back to town. All the while stopping at the loud, rowdy bars along the way for beer and buckets of whiskey. They throw you a ring, or a pop bottle on a string and tow you in wherever you want. It is insane…it is primarily Europeans (British) and Australians, but that does not matter as it truly is insanity at its ripest. They have rope swings, high dives and slides at all these bars where the patrons can fling themselves into the river (that is not very deep right now–maybe 3 feet)

It is incredibly dangerous and there is a death here almost every 2 weeks from these activities. Now those deaths do not take into account the injuries….if you sit in a bakery in town and watch the young folks go by you will see many many bandaged ankles, knees and arms. The medical care here in Laos is atrocious! And tourists that have over indulged and/or taken too many drugs or have been hurt are often deemed hopeless and are not treated. If you get hurt in Laos, you need to get to Thailand by any means necessary…ASAP!

Anyway…we decided it would be silly to come here and not tube….so we went right on down and got out tubes today….OK everybody…calm down! I know what you are thinking! Our intention was to get our tubes and JUST float down the river….no bar hopping…that is exactly what we did and it was awesome!! The scenery here is absolutely stunning…nothing like it. Since we were in the water…no camera….but here are our numbered hands for proof!

Bruce, Jackie and Stephanie went too so we had a tonne of fun….it was probably 1.5 hours of floating : )))

So how about some funny signs to round things out for the day??

Yeah….this tuber is never getting his camera back!

And this is why this town has the reputation is has….this offer or something equally as crazy exists in every bar (and the are plenty)

So I have become a bit obsessed with what i like to call “code violations of SE Asia”.

I decided to make it my mission today to take pictures of as many code violations as I could find on our initial walk a bout of Vang Vieng.

Let’s start with this bridge…

An engineering marvel I am sure!! This is a foot bridge that crosses from the mainland to an island that has after hour bars and guesthouses for the young backpackers that come here to party.

This is a “power pole” on that same bridge….

An up close look at the design would indicate that this structure is likely to outlast us all….and/or hopefully through the next rain storm.

Code violation number two would be a health and safety violation….the sheer volume of garbage that is littered everywhere is a constant source of amazement to me…and not a good amazement…

I records multiple violations of the street pedestrian safety code…

For a town that is almost 98% full of either completely inebriated or hung over tourists…this kind of neglect of the sidewalks seem very dangerous…critical to always keep your eyes on where you are putting your feet!

Not sure how many rules this remodel violates….but I know there have got be several….it just looks like a mess!

I feel like this lady has lost her right to free and reasonable access to her property. I would think Vang Vieng Public Works should be cited for being violators!!

How about this electrical code violation?? This is the most common set of violations we see here…could not possibly record them all…but when do you ever feel safe plugging your lamp into a tree??

Or having your street light be kept dry with a Lao Lao whiskey bucket (or a sawed off pop bottle)

Anyway….the list could go on and on let me tell you. I shall keep my eyes peeled and let you know what else I find

; ))

Yes I did! And an adventure it was…if we have learned one thing in the last few years it is to take everything they tell you here with a grain of salt (or maybe some sugar). When we booked the bus trip yesterday…I asked the guy a couple of questions.

1) will I have my own seat?
2) do you promise?
2.a) and not on a stool in the aisle?
3) is there air con?
4) will it stay on the whole way?
5) even after we leave town?
6) do you promise?

What I learned today was maybe to ask a couple other things…

7) will the bus leave on time?
8) how many times will I have to change buses?
9) does 5 hours mean “5 hours” or does that mean 7+ hours?
10) will we pull off the road somewhere and have to watch a young lad turn a hose on the brakes?
11) will there be wheel bearings and miscellaneous bus parts in a bin at the front of the bus and if so why?

So perhaps I am giving a wrong impression here….it really wasn’t so bad. To answer the questions

1) yes I had my own seat
3) yes there was “air flow”
4) no, it will definitely be turned off
5) not as soon as we leave town, but certainly as soon as we have to start climbing up into the mountains

7) not even close to leaving on time–in fact 1 1/2 hours late leaving
8) change buses one time–so all in all not too bad since it was before we left the bus depot
9) 5 hours means WAY more than 5…it means 7+
10) yes….”we” will be hosing off the brakes
11) yes…no idea why, but thanking God we did not need to dip into the bucket of spare parts at any point, despite our concerns when we smelled smoke, saw the young boy dangling out the door window to keep his eye on “something”, heard noises that can not be attributed to anything but tired old bus.

The nuts and bolts are that we were picked up promptly at 8:35am by a tuk tuk driver who ran us over to the bus station just as promised. We then went and turned our voucher from travel dude into bus tickets just as promised. Then we waited and waited and waited. There was a tonne of confusion, miscommunication and and general crankiness at the depot with a large group of young tourists who were promised a minivan ride and were reluctant to get on the VIP bus. Now this I can hardly imagine as the VIP bus is a more upscale experience that riding anywhere in a minivan…but they did not know this i guess….and a couple of loud, finger pointing tourists spoiled it for the whole group, they were afraid to get on something they had not booked as they thought that they were potentially not going to be allowed back on if they got off at a stop or something….or at least this is what we gathered. As it turns out, very few of the people on the bus actually bought VIP tickets…they were mostly minivan customers who just kept their mouths shut and did what they were told.

So here is our first bus and a picture of us getting settled in….

Yes indeed…things are going well…..then we wait and we wait….

Oops, we have to change buses…it is about 10:30am now (1 full hour past departure time)

So here is our new bus….and you can see I am still happy and smiling for the camera…but my travel companion is looking less than thrilled (yes….he did lobby hard for a private car….but I shut him down)

Maybe he is upset bcz we now have the last 2 seats on the bus and they are not side by each….but across an aisle?? Can’t think what else might be upsetting about this day so far

; )

The random looking dude popping into the photo is Bruce…more on that later….

So 10:55am and we finally “have a driver”, a bus that the “government will allow”, and “no more spare seats”, and any other host of rumors/excuses that were passed around while we were waiting! The crowd bursts out in applause…literally they did! It was hilarious…

The road had been described to us as windy, bumpy, narrow, scary, etc….and it was all those things and more…but I stayed pretty calm after at least 2 people had told me (and I quote) ” this driver is so much better than the last time I made this trip….he is going very slow…I feel safe”

Yeah!

So the good news is, we made some more new friends, Jackie, Bruce and their teenage daughter Stephanie. They are American (Bruce) and British (Jackie) but they live in Australia (therefore Stephanie is Australian). So when we stopped for “lunch” we all sat together and had some local Lao buffet food….hmmmmm!

It was a charming little road side atmosphere…where it cost 2000 kip to use the squatty potty!

It was right at the tip of a hair pin curve in the road…I stood in one spot and took 2 pictures only slightly moving the camera….you can see how blind this corner is.

If I knew how to put 2 pictures side by side in this blog….then you would be able to see it better…but this was what it looked like if you stood at the stop and looked one way and the other.

This was the view from the window of the diner.

Totally mind blowingly gorgeous! It looked like this the whole way! As we wound our way back and forth across the mountains.

I also made friends with my seat mate…a french fellow who spent up until lunch time dozing (mostly in my personal bubble) and after he woke up was desperate to practice his english. So we chatted most of the rest of the way. His name was Arnaud, he is 21 and an engineering student going to university in Paris.

So about 4:30pm, (5.5 hours in) we pull into what we all think is the bus depot in Vang Vieng. So everyone gathers up their bags and gets off bus. But we don’t really seem like we are in a town or that there is any tuk tuks for transport to hotels or main street. But nope….nothing….then we see the young boy who has ridden along pulling out a hose from the building and starting to spray the wheels?? Really?? Washing the bus? Is that really important at this time? Then Troy says….he is spraying the brakes to cool them down…uh…really! Yup really….I guess the work out on the brakes coming down out of the mountains is so intense, they can’t cool themselves….and this is normal here…

Wow…I feel SO much safer now that they have tended to this…

So then we all get back on the bus after most folks have had the chance to buy overpriced ice cream bars from the lady inside….and we carry on….1.5 more hours!

I think the drive CAN be done in 5 hours by a crazed maniac driver hopped up on red bull….but we have the uber cautious safe driver that takes 7 : ) best in the long run….but it was a long day…10.5 hours start to finish for us!

Here is the proof I was VIP for a day…it says so right there on the front of the bus…

…will blog after I eat ; ))