Expedition on the Lao back road and Vang Vieng

So we gave a bit of a teaser at the end of the last post, but we will start this one from the beginning.

We woke up at 5 am, and surprise surprise, there was still pouring rain.  We jumped into tuk-tuks and headed over to a temple.  As soon as we stepped into the streets we immediately saw barefoot monks walking around with all of the local people out dropping food into their bowls.  Apparently this is the only way the monks get food.  We got lucky, and Johnny found us a covered area to sit in by one of the Wats (temple).  After Johnny showed us the proper way to feed the monks sticky rice, the procession began.

We grabbed another quick meal at Joma, and then went to the hotel for our 8:30 departure to Vang Vieng, which would be a nine-hour bus ride.   8:30 came and went.  There had been so much rain in the past few days, that there were mud slides/slips everywhere, and the bus was delayed getting in to us. 

At 10 o’clock we finally headed out.  We made our lunch stop at a beautiful view spot around 5 pm.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t see anything because of the massive fog, clouds, and rain.  We finally got into Vang Vieng around 9:30 pm.

Along the road we saw unbelievable scenery.  The mountain and jungle landscape was truly beautiful and awe inspiring.  All of the mudslips that we kept having to stop at and wait until they were cleared were a reality check into the daily trials and tribulations of traveling on these Lao mountain passes.

Vang Vieng is a small city that is mostly a backpackers haven.  The area is known for its tubing bar crawl on the Mekong, water activities, happy shakes (lots of alcohol and LSD and some other drugs), zip-lining, trekking, caving, and the high number of backpacker casualties annually.  The later is mostly due to the complete lack of safety regulations.  Ten years ago, the place only had two guest houses.  Today it has over 100.

When we got in, we were informed that due to the rain, the river was at unusually high flood levels, all of the bar crawl bars were completely flooded out (as well as many local farms and villages), and all activities would be cancelled.

Naturally, our group did the only logical thing.  Went to one of the local bars, and went out hard.

The next day, we slept in a bit, and then spent our whole day drinking (in funny outfits) with friends in the bar.  Around, 5 o’clock, we went to the hotel, and at 7 o’clock the group went to a lay chill bar/restaurant where they played family guy on all the tvs.  Sometime around 10 o’clock, Ashley got mad at Jourdan, and said she would pay him 100 Baht to not speak for 24 hours.  He lasted 4 and ½, but after about 20 minutes, she was begging him to speak again. 

Another solid night of drinking.  Lots of funny stories from both nights.  Some of the attached pictures give a sample of the antics that took place.

 

Unofficial death toll from the storms in the Vang Viene region was 8.