Laos is great!

Laos is great!

So far, we can safely say that all of the problems we had getting into this country have been warrented by the great experiences we've had upon arrival. The people are nice, the traffic is easy, the landscapes are beautiful and the food is very diverse (in a good way). We started in the capital of Vientiane, which was a delightful little town. It's the biggest city in the country, but at only 250k people was easy to get around. From there we moved on to Vang Vieng, which has probably been the biggest surprise on the trip so far. It's a small town at the foot of some gorgeous limestone mountains, strewn out along a fast moving and clean river. Our hotel room ($5/night) sat right on the water, and there was a restaurant that went out to the water where we spent most of our nights. Inner tubes were available for floating and the view was absolutely stunning, so we sat in the water for hours at a time just taking it all in. In the city center (if you can call it that) there were numerous "video bars", which are essentially just restaurants that play TV shows off DVD's. Oddly, FRIENDS was the big show, and at any given time you could find 3 or more restaurants playing it. We went to these places for a good cheap meal, and stayed to watch 5-6 episodes of a 100% American show. Fun stuff! At one point we also rented mountain bikes... nice TREK bikes to do so some offroading. We rode quite a long ways into the mountains and through numerous little villages, and stopped do a hike into a cave. It was a fantastic ride, although we both got fried by the sun.

Which brings us to the next topic- the heat. It is ungodly hot here. We like hot weather, the hottest stuff that Missouri offers has always been OK by me, but here the sun is so intense it has really caught us off guard. You can feel it burning you on short walks, and even the dark skinned locals wear pants, long shirts and hats most the time. We don't have A/C, so the only way to cool off is in the shade or in a river. Mosquitoes were a problem in Vang Vieng, so we slept under a mosquito net which made it even hotter. Slowly though, we think we'll get used to it. It's just part of living in a place like this... just one of the normal everyday things you get used to. Similarly, just a couple of nights ago a 2ft+ lizard crawled through the open window of our bungalow and shot up the curtain onto the wall- scared the crap out of us. The next 15 minutes or so were spent trying to coax the big guy out the door. It's this kind of stuff that really makes the trip what it is!

Currently we are in Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos, and we just had an awesome evening. We visited a night market put on by a local minority group (Hmong People )which had tons of handmade clothing, paintings, scarves, figurines, alcohol, etc. We got a few cool little souvenirs, including a small bottle of Lao Whiskey with a scorpion in it... potent stuff. There were also tons of food stalls... people had grills and lots of animals on sticks. We got grilled chicken, a foot long sub with chicken, cheese and veggies, a plate of noodles and beans (3 different noodle types) and 3 handmade fruit shakes (Lime, Lime-Apple, and Papaya). These were too cool... it was just a bunch of plastic cups with fruit in them, and you pick the cup you want (based on the fruit inside) and they put it in a blender with some ice for you. Best slushes I've ever had, and that’s saying quite a bit. And for those that are curious, the grand total for all the food and drinks I just mentioned was about $4.

Tomorrow we start heading into much more remote areas... some of which are accessible only by boat and only have power a few hours each day (via generators). We'll be working north and then west towards the border with north Thailand, and it's possible we won't have internet access for a week or more, so don't be concerned if you don't hear from us!


-------------- Pictures from Laos should be up shortly