Oh, the Places We'll Go

We hadn’t heard the greatest reviews of Vientiane, Laos’ capital city, but it was inevitable that we would need to travel through it and spend the night at least once. No one had anything particularly bad to say about the place, it just didn’t have any not-to-be-missed sights or activities. So we were headed into town without high expectations – but found ourselves pleasantly surprised.

A beautiful riverfront

Healthy street food!

And, of course, all the BeerLao you can drink!

As we imagined, Vientiane isn’t full of a lot of hustle and bustle. Rather, it’s pretty chill, kinda like the Lao people in general. Things just move along at a medium pace. Walking around that first evening, we were very impressed with the vibrant street scene, the french-inspired architecture, the remarkably clean streets, and the overall feeling of modernity. After spending time in places like India, which are mentioned in the news for their developing global economy yet are very much in disarray in terms of public services and general operations, we were quite surprised that little ole Communist Laos, one of the world’s poorest countries, had such a lovely capital city. Nice sidewalks, all sorts of landscaping and greenery, an awesome riverfront, tree-lined streets, flower-lined avenues, and just no trash anywhere. No clue how they they got so on the ball, who’s paying to keep it clean and landscaped, but it’s nice. The Lao people have something good going on here.

The French influence is very much alive here

Street restaurant owner, thanking us for our business

The amazing meal we ate at this guy's restaurant - Lao specialty, Laap, with sticky rice!

Though we didn’t leave ourselves much time for tourist activities, we did enjoy a lovely sunset walk along the newly-completed Mekong riverfront path (funded by foreign aid). The riverfront was booming with activity – kids playing soccer, couples watching the sun set, teenagers just hanging. One activity we did not expect to encounter – literally hundreds of Lao folks out for their evening exercise. Throughout our trip we had not seen a lot of exercise for exercise’s sake – most people in developing countries have much larger concerns than their level of fitness. Ted got ridiculed in India when he went for a jog – why is this guy running?!? But in Vientiane, we saw runners, walkers, joggers, people on bicycles, roller-bladers – the works! The big kicker was a strangely popular waterfront aerobics class – literally dozens of participants moving in unison in the shadow of a gigantic statue! There were also public exercise stations and stationary bikes lining the path that appeared to be quite popular.

Vientiane riverfront at sunset

Riverfront fountains and art

The Lao fitness craze - who'd a thought?

I have no idea why there were so many folks on board the fitness train in Vientiane, but we’ll tack it on our list as another one of the many unexplainable things that we’ve encountered on our travels.

Some interesting sights in Laos

It's hot and sunny here, but is it really so hot and sunny that you need a sun umbrella on a moto ride?

These little birds are for sale, so that visitors may release them upon entering the adjacent religious site. Interesting product...

So after my rather unfavorable review of the ridiculousness that is Vang Vieng in the previous post, I have to tell you that Ted and I joined the British and Aussie youngsters for a day of party tubing on the river, and it was really damn fun. After renting our tubes and tuk-tuking several miles upriver from town, we arrived at the launch point with dozens of fellow tubers, ready to see what this debauchery was all about.

Tubing Tuk-Tuk

If you were to plop into your tube and cruise straight back to town, it wouldn’t take you more than an hour or so – especially on the day we set out as the river was particularly high due to recent rains. However, no one heads straight back to town because the river is lined with dozens of hilariously entertaining bars that vie for your attention and business. As you float down the river, bar employees literally throw you a rope and pull you in to come visit their establishment. Once on shore, there are a variety of drinking-themed games and loud music that distract people for hours. Some bars have water slides, rope swings, and other potentially dangerous activities for young people who have been drinking heavily, but the day we went they were mostly closed due to the high water level and a previous injury (a broken jaw) by a fellow traveler the day before.

The first of dozens of river-side bars

Party games at stop #2

A rather ambitious waterslide!

Ted and I managed to have a pretty hilarious time. We ran into lots of people from the Slow Boat cruise, and it doesn’t require too much convincing for us to have fun on a beautiful day with the primary activities being drinking cocktail buckets and floating down a river.

Cocktail bucket? Why yes!

Hanging with Slow Boat friends

From one bar to the next, beer in hand!

After a few different stops at the various riverside bars, we decided to call it a day and float ourselves back home before it got too dark. As soon as we set off from the last bar, we had the entire river to ourselves as the sun was going down. It was beautiful, it was serene, and it was hard to imagine the chaos that was going on behind us on the river. In our rather idyllic (and inebriated) state, we managed to miss the proper disembarkation point, and found ourselves hitching a ride back to town on a tuk-tuk waiting for clueless tubers like us.

Away from the bars, it's a beautiful and serene experience

Ted and I managed to get back, with both of our tubes, and in one piece. Many folks are not so lucky – the river claims lives and bones every year. We went on a day that the river was particularly high, and it’s no wonder that dumb drunk kids die there regularly. You’ve got respect that river, and most people don’t, and the rope swings, slides, and diving boards don’t help. Neither do the super-soakers filled with whiskey. In our transport to the river, we rode with folks who opted not to rent tubes at all – they were just going to swim or hold onto someone else’s tube to get back. On a raging river. In the dark. When they’ve been drinking. Not a great idea.

So though Vang Vieng is one of the most beautiful little spots we visited in Laos and we had a hilarious time tubing on the river, I can’t recommend it to too many people. It’s got a lot of potential, but until someone figures out how to attract a more appealing (and potentially more profitable) market of visitors, it’s destined to be a backpacker party town for years to come.

Please excuse my language, but there is no better way to talk to about the town of Vang Vieng. Set in central Laos, conveniently located halfway between the World Heritage City of Luang Prabang and Vientiane, the country’s capital, Vang Vieng is beautifully situated on the banks of a tributary of the Mekong River and surrounded by picturesque mountains. The nearby area is dotted with dozens of caves that you can explore by yourself or as part of a group, and the river is a draw for rafters and tubers. Our hotel room had one of the best views of any we stayed in all year!

Views from our waterfront hotel

More hotel views

This all sounds quite lovely until I tell you that the average tourist to Vang Vieng is a 20-year-old British/Aussie kid on his gap year before university. We knew we were stopping at a party destination on the backpacker route, but we were kinda surprised to find the Cancun of Asia. The behavior of most backpackers was troubling at best, and downright obnoxious and appalling at its worst.

Vang Vieng must provide a huge percentage of BeerLao's business

When we first arrived, we ate dinner at a small restaurant on the main drag, both entertained and aghast by the steady stream of wet, drunken kids stumbling down the street. It was really disturbing to know that the local Lao people (a very laid back and warm people whose country only opened up to foreign tourism in 1988!) were witnessing this chaos everyday, and such behavior was the basis of their opinions of Westerners. I’ve lived in college towns all my life, and I understand that things get out of hand when people have been drinking excessively, but for a Lao teenager working in her parent’s simple noodle house to see girls stumbling in the streets in just their bikinis (considered inappropriate behavior in this conservative culture), couples groping each other publicly, and boisterous Aussies screaming obscenities at one another, it’s terrible and embarrassing that she knows little else of our culture but this behavior.

Ignored signs

When people aren’t drinking and tubing down the river (the most popular activity by far), they are camped up in the “TV Bars” nursing their hangovers (or contributing to them) and watching reruns of Friends and The Family Guy that are on continuous repeat at these establishments (yes, I did watch some Friends and rather enjoyed it…).

One of 1/2 a dozen Friends and Family Guy restaurants

I was completely overwhelmed by the vibe of this place, and we considered leaving the next day, but fortunately we decided to give it a chance. In the end, we were happy we did, however, I still feel bad for the poor old locals and the craziness they’ve had to endure as their quaint little river town has become the hub of backpacker debauchery in just a few short years.

We enjoyed a few amazing days taking in the laid back vibe of Luang Prabang. It is a lovely place to wander the markets, cruise around on bicycles, or just relax in the surprisingly modern and trendy restaurants and cafes. But the real highlight of our stay in Luang Prabang was a visit to Kouang Si Falls.

Biking around Luang Prabang

Wats on bikes

All the tuk-tuk drivers in town fight for your business to take you out to these falls. We were lucky that we were able to wrestle up a group of people which made it much less expensive, and lot more fun (yep, friends from the slow boat). After the negotiation was settled and we’d piled into our snug transport, we had 30+ minutes of windy, bumpy roads to get out to the falls. When we arrived, hot and sweaty from the cramped conditions and the general steaminess of the country, hanging out by water sounded like a pretty fantastic idea.

The gorgeous drive up to the waterfalls

On the short walk through the woods to get to the falls, we were greeted by the completely unexpected opportunity to see dozens of bears living in a protected (and fenced) area of the forest. I believe they were rescued bears and though they looked like our black bears, they were in fact Asian black bears! Regardless, they were a quite a surprise that we very much enjoyed.

Asian Black Bear!

Bears of the world

So just when we thought it couldn’t get any better than randomly seeing bears on our hike in, we arrived at the first set of falls. Now I’ve seen a lot of waterfalls in my life, but there aren’t too many that can match Kouang Si for water color. These falls were the most amazing blue-green and the best part is, they are perfect and inviting for swimming. Within minutes we had left our hot, sweaty selves behind and plunged into the beautiful turquoise blue. If swimming and floating was too boring, there were the options of rope swings and cliffs to dive off of.

So inviting...

Layer after layer of blue-green falls

Prepping for a rope swing

Our friend, James, heading for a face-first impact

From where we swam, it was just a short walk up to the source of the falls – an incredibly tall and impressive main fall. If you are feeling particularly ambitious, you can hike to the top of that as well but luckily Ted (who likes to climb to the top of everything) had just broken his flip-flops on the mini-walk to the source of the falls, so I got out of a longer excursion that day.

The upper falls

As the afternoon clouds rolled in and rain seemed evident, we managed to pull ourselves away from the amazing oasis, said goodbye to the bears, and piled into our rickshaw back to town. It was a pretty fantastic day.

One activity we did not anticipate encountering in Luang Prabang (or really anywhere in Laos) is bowling, but low and behold, it’s all the rage here. It probably helps that it’s the only institution open past 11pm (and they’re open and serving BeerLao until 3am!). I’m not a huge fan of bowling, but when the bar closed and our Slow Boat friends were headed that way, we hopped in the tuk-tuk for the ride.

Who'd a thought?!

Riding with the kids to the alley

Cleaner and nicer than most bowling alleys I've ever been to!

Late-night bowling party

Luang Prabang is a lovely little town in Laos that is unlike anything we expected to see in one of the world’s poorest counties. Once upon a time, Laos was a French colony and the French colonial legacy is very much alive and well in this little place along the Mekong River. Though it’s most notable in the architecture, you also can’t help but notice that some of the most popular street foods bought and sold are freshly-made baguette sandwiches. Mmmm!

French-influenced architecture

And speaking of surprising food encounters, we had quite a few unique and unexpected eating experiences in our few days there. For instance, just around the corner from our hostel we stumbled upon the welcome oasis that is JoMa Café. Now, JoMa is nothing more than a coffee shop – a traditional, run-of-the mill American-type coffee shop. But please remember, we are in a developing country that didn’t reopen to foreign tourists until 1989. It was pretty remarkable to go in and order a bagel breakfast sandwich and a latte and enjoy life’s little luxuries in air-conditioned comfort while reading the newspaper! Though expensive and far from an authentic cultural experience, we loved our little JoMa Café and found ourselves there most mornings.

JoMa java!

To counteract our unadventurous breakfasts, we had some pretty traditional dinners – including at the night market. Luang Prabang’s night market is incredible. Yes, it’s a tourist market and not a local hang-out, but the variety of products and the vibrancy of colors is something to behold. I challenge you to walk through it and not buy something. And Laos is home to non-aggressive salespeople, which was a welcome relief to us after time spent in other countries. From umbrellas, to shoes, to wallets, and artwork – we definitely had to find more room in our backpacks after this spot.

Luang Prabang's night market

Colorful umbrellas at the night market

Colorful patters

The night market also features amazing eating that entices travelers with such deals as $1 for everything you can fit on your plate. Remarkably we turned that down and opted for Mekong fish-on-a-stick. We wouldn’t have picked it ourselves based on sight, but after being treated to a bite by a friend from the slow boat, we were sold. And we topped that off with these delicious coconut rice cakes that just melt in your mouth.

Mekong River fish-on-a-stick!

All-you-can-eat for $1!

Delicious coconut milk rice cakes

On another evening away from the night market, we ate some BBQ. Laos-style. This involved a bucket of coals brought to our table, covered with an interesting frying apparatus that allowed for simultaneous cooking of soup, noodles, veggies, egg, and three different kinds of meat! So there we were BBQ-ing our own meal at the table – very unique, and delicious, indeed!

Multi-function grill!

Excited for this meal! Lao Lao Garden BBQ

From fancy coffee shops where you least expect them, to fish-on-a-stick that exceeds all expectations, we learned that our presumptions about this quiet little Southeast Asian country were continuously going to be turned upside down.

Luang Prabang is set in a beautiful location, with lush green mountains in the distance, and the mighty Mekong passing right through downtown.  In the middle of the city is Chomsy Hill – a short climb up reveals 360 vistas of this beauty.  A few photos:

Views from Chomsy Hill

Quaint Luang Prabang

Chomsy Hill vistas

Though we weren’t quite ready to leave Thailand yet, we’d worked ourselves up to the northern border with Laos, so we decided to cross it.

After a quick boat across the Mekong River from Thailand to Laos (and our first of many baguette sandwiches – a culinary staple left from the days of French rule), we had another much longer boat ride ahead of us – from the border town of Huay Xai to the French colonial city of Luang Prabang. Until very recently, the only way to travel between these two cities was by boat. However, there is now a new highway connecting the two places providing a faster (10 hour overnight bus ride vs. a 2-day boat ride) and more financially intriguing option. But though the highway certainly has some factors in its favor, the boat ride is a helluva lot more fun.

River-cruising slow boats

So that is how we found ourselves on the “slow boat” with 68 other travelers and 5 locals heading down the Mekong, the largest un-dammed river in the world. There is indeed a “fast boat” alternative, but people are regularly killed on these dangerous journeys. One must wear a helmet while the driver dodges rocks, rapids, and whirlpools, and they are so incredibly fast and dangerous that the guidebooks strongly advise against them due to the frequency of accidents. Ummm…no thanks.

One of the five locals on our boat

We looked something like this as we cruised down the river

As the slow boat is no longer the fastest or least expensive option, the appeal is the experience itself. The two-day boat ride with an overnight stop in the remote village of Pak Beng was quite a treat. It is pretty fantastic to be cruising along one of the world’s most famous and mighty rivers with nothing to do that day but appreciate the scenery. On the boat, we cruised through dense, lush, green forest, witnessing fantastic unique-shaped mountains, temples built into sheer rock walls, remote villages inaccessible by road, and even elephants coming down to the river to drink! It was a great way to get introduced to the landscapes and the pace of life in Laos.

Mekong River vistas

Wicked cool mountains along the Mekong

Cruising the river

Though this may all sound idyllic and serene, what I have yet to mention is that the average age of our fellow boat riders was approximately 23, and having two days to cruise down a river is an excellent opportunity to drink a lot of BeerLao. So as you can imagine, the slow boat became a bit of a booze cruise as the day went on. The good news is that we both like to drink beers too and the great part is that we met incredibly fun people from all over the world that we proceeded to run into throughout the rest of our time in Laos. Even if we didn’t say a word to one another on the boat, recognition of being on the same vessel was grounds for striking up a conversation when we crossed paths 2 weeks later!

68 of our new best friends

Partying with our new friends

When we rolled into Luang Prabang late in the afternoon on our second day of cruising, we felt like seasoned riverboat travelers. The slow boat was certainly an experience – definitely not a cultural one nor necessarily one we’d need to do again – but ultimately a great time.

Over the past 9 months, we’ve eaten some strange things.  It’s part of the adventure, and half the time we don’t even know what we’re really getting.  One thing we did take a pass on was bugs, beetles and scorpions.  We saw carts full of them in Bangkok, but our most memorable bug-eating experience happened as we were relaxing with Pui in Maetachang.

We’re hanging with Pui while he cooks some vegetables wrapped in a banana leaf on a little fire next to this sort of covered patio structure we’re chillin on.  A huge black beetle comes flying by, and to our surprise, Pui reaches out and grabs it mid-flight and holds it up to show us.

Look what I caught!!

Again to our surprise, he throws the beetle on the fire next to the vegetables, and it cooks for about 30 seconds.  We’re thinking, well, that’s kinda cruel, but if we lived out in the middle of nowhere, maybe we’d do that too.

Patiently waiting for the beetle to cook

Then, to our biggest surprise, he plucks the beetle off the fire, cracks it in half, and bites off the juicy torso of this beetle.  Yum.  WTF?!

Snack time!