Vientiane

Mike and I are shoestring travelers. What makes that wonderful is that your stories are so much more fun to tell. There is a side of the culture you can only experience when you live as the locals do. With the exception of white water rafting, it's exactly how we roll. Although I have been an avid bus fan for a long time, the chance to water our way down to Vientiane sounded especially fun knowing Mufasa would be squished between Mike and I. The expression on our guides face when we pulled Mufasa out of our bag and announced that he would be joining our little soiree was priceless.
So here we are before our grand adventure.

Surprisingly...we didn't tip the boat once and Mufasa stayed relatively dry. Notice how he's clamboring for land. Although there were a few close calls we I swear I could hear him screaming.
Being the 'fly by the seat of our pants' people that we are we never pre-arrange accommodation. Ever. Things usually work out and we have never to date paid more than $15 per room in Asia. Vientiane was a close call though. We walked around to probably 10 different hotels before we found one that wasn't full and with a price tag that wasn't outrageous. Just in time to see the sun set below the Mekong.

Most people we know have bones to pick with Vientiane. There are no major attractions besides being an international hub for the country. It is overflowing with tourists fresh from their in-flight services. Mike and I on the other hand, have a soft spot for the capital because they make THE BEST shakes known to man. Breakfast and dinner would often find us here, sipping on pureed mango and fresh fruit. Walks in the city revealed several beautiful Wat's. I love the detail. I should probably note that I had to twist Mike's arm to even enter these Wat's as Mike is chronically watted out. He's such a good sport : )
I love monks. I love their orange robes and giving alms. I love that I can't touch them (but Mike can). There just so quintessential Asia. We found these coming from a Wat after finding their inner Buddha. Contrary to what I previously thought, most are not monks their entire lives. They will often serve for several years, then take a break and come back. I had always thought if you took the vow they had you for life. Apparently they believe in an early release for good behavior.

Just a side note. The best part of our trip in Lao will be posted in two or three days. Although we are currently in Thailand, sipping on rice wine and watching the tide come and go, I never had time (or a decent internet connection) in Lao to write about them. Then once Phuket arrived all the salt water erased my ambition. So, hence the lack there of.

Good Eatin

One of my favorite parts of traveling are the things you don't expect, anticipate, or plan for. However, since we have already been to Luang Probang, I confess....I expected, anticipated, and planned in as much eating time as my figure would possibly allow, because the food is phenomenal!

Take this chicken, marinated in a home-made top secret recipe that is locked in the highest tree and guarded by a bunch of gibbons then grilled fresh every morning between two pieces of bamboo. Chicken has never been so moist and full flavored.

When I first came to Lao two years ago I realized that the people share a deep love affair for all things fishy. Fermented fishy to be exact and it is about as appealing as it sounds. When you walk through the markets you can see huge vats of it sitting in open air amidst flies and tape worms. So when I heard that one of the main ingredients of papaya salad was fish sauce...I begged off. Until an angel descended to a stall in Luang Probang and made me fish sauce free papaya salad. And with the chicken we had every day, that is what I lived off of. You can't consider yourself a true Asian-circuit traveler until you have paid your dues at several sites. While many of the cities that these tourist traps lie in have lost their soul, there is still fun to be had. Tubing down the river in Vang Vieng is one of these such places. The gigantic tree swings, bars blasting music, children swimming in the river selling the ubiquitous Beer Lao...it promises to capture your interest and youth for at least eight hours*.

*please note that this picture was taken prior to the food fest that was Luang Probang....cut me some slack...

Mike hates this picture because he thinks that it makes him look out of shape. (What traveler is EVER in shape...I on the other hand thinks he looks charming) But I had to post it because it showed one of the latest additions to the tree swing....the tube ride slide, and it is seriously scarier than it looks. I refused. My dare-devil compadre on the other hand went off of it like four times. One of the more memorable (although TERRIFYING) things we did was take a speed boat down from Phongsali. Now when I say speed boat, picture a surf-board with a car engine strapped to the back of it flying through rock strewn rivers at what felt like 65 miles an hour. I wasn't so much worried about capsizing as I was about watching $5,000 worth of electronics sink to the

rivers bottom. The Lao kept looking over at Mike and I grinning as we white knuckled the sides of the speed boat. The ride was just as they had promised though, breath-taking. Miles of pristine jungle and hill-tribes that had probably gone their whole lives seeing only a handful of foreigners. You can eat, read, run, or have a drink. Everyone has something they do to de-stress. Mike 'Trisses'. He has this game on his Itouch called Tetris, but to hard core gamers like himself it's simply 'Tris'. He has sucked me into this twisted addiction and while my scores are infinitely lower than his, it's fun to compete. Ode to Moo...the most patient dog in the world. We love Mufasa so much and couldn't imagine a better dog ( although if he could catch a Frisbee, that would be pretty cool too). He sits still (and holds his pee) all day long on a hot crowded bus, he still cuddles with us after throwing him in the water earlier in the day, tolerates hundreds (no, this is not an exaggeration) of Asians petting, barking, whistling, and cooing at him. LOVE you Moo.

Get Your Lao On!

This post is far belated it's almost embarrassing. My only excuse is that we were so busy adventuring that using the computer was confined to 30 minute Facebook/email/traveling cram sessions.

We entered Lao by land from the south of China and the north of Lao. It was such an experience going from the highly supervised borders of China to the dirt road, make sure you pay before you keep walking border that envelops Lao. (It's LAO not LAOS, the damn french added the S on because they couldn't say it right) Not surprisingly Mufasa had no problem entering the country on their 'don't ask, don't tell policy'. It's said that the further south you go in Lao, the lower your blood pressure drops and I can assure you, that's all very true.

In a country that less than a decade ago was discovered as both stunning and affordable, finding spots that have not yet been invaded by tourists is becoming increasingly difficult. Which is why we wanted to head as far north as possible. The roads are atrocious and the buses that wind up the steep mountains must have been sold at huge discount prices during the 60's. Not much repair work has been done to them since either. Soo, to break us in, our first bus ride was around 20 hours long....on this....

The amount of luggage per one Lao person is enough to give any flight attendant a heart attack. This picture doesn't include the overcrowded seats, the chickens, goats, and pigs that follow the endless precession of locals. Aside from the dust, vomit, and stares......I kind of like the bus rides. I think it's because I've already paid my dues on their buses during my last visit to Lao.

So here is Mufasa and I....chillen during a pee-break.

Riding this tricked out buses is made worth it when you get to see this...the ENTIRE way there....don't be a hater.

Another reason I risk nausea and well being is to observe hill-tribe life as we roll by.....on 22's...lol. Sooo...the shot below isn't that great but it's one of the few I was able to catch. Tiny Asian women scaling mountains whilst carrying ungainly loads on their backs. And I thought pulling weeds were bad.
Most Lao build their homes above the ground. Since they do live in the rain forest, rain is to be expected. It's a shame that many Lao are ditching the thatched roofs and showing off their new found wealth in the form of a rusty tin roof.
It also serves as a lower level floor for all their barn-yard guests. Have you ever chased a baby pig around a rural hill-tribe village and then hold it squealing in your hands in order to take a picture, then find out your memory card is full. Only now you have the entire village looking on thinking that some crazy white woman is about to steal their pig. Most of the sight seeing is done during your trip to Phongsali as opposed to in Phongsali. So, after saving Mufasa's life no less than ten times from rapid packs of dogs. We spent our days walking through the town. Until we met a spawn of Satan, in the form of a dirt bike. It should have been taken as a sign that it was dirt cheap. It should have been waving red flags that it took a day of repair to even get it started. But being the eager beaver, risk takers we are....we rented it. Now we have a grown man, me, our dog, and backpack going up and down mountains on a 10cc motorbike. Something was bound to happen. The flat happened halfway down the mountain. We had two choices, push the bike back UP to town, or send Mike by himself DOWN the mountain to fix it. We chose down. That left me trying to hitch a ride with a local to meet up with him at the next town. So after being ripped off on a tire repair we headed out of the Popsicle stand and up the steep hills. It made it about 1/3 of the way up before the motor died.....black smoke and all. So now we are mountains away from town with a dead motorbike. We decide to try pushing our way up the mountain.....in 100 degree heat...in the jungle....with a 10cc bike from the 60's. What felt like miles was really on a few hundred feet. So, plan B was to sit and wait for the next bus. After nearly killing ourselves to squeezing the bike through the twin doors of the bus, we made it back to town on our broke down bike. We have never been happier for a cold shower and a change of clothes.

Here we are....broke down on the side of the road with our 10cc.