Foreigners behaving badly in Vang Vieng...

Talor: Wasn't really looking forward to Vang Vieng, a backpacker haven, known as a party town. But, we were heading north, and it was on the way to Luang Prabang, so we decided to stop for a day or two to try the most popular activity, tubing down the Mekong. A 3 ½ hour bus ride later, we arrived, and the scenery was beautiful with karsts (limestone hills) jutting out from the countryside.

The town itself is nothing to write home about with main street lined with guesthouses and restaurants catering to backpackers. Most of the guesthouses had basic non-descript rooms with absolutely no personality to distinguish one from another. And most of the restaurants had exactly the same “western” menu similar to what we had seen in other small towns in Laos. Not only that, the restaurants had these raised platforms with cushions and pillows where backpackers would get stoned, lay there and watch endless re-runs of “Friends” (the American sit-com). I couldn't believe it... it was exactly as they described it in the guidebook! We both thought, “UGH!, Let's get the hell outta here!” Unfortunately, we had to wait until the next day.

Spent the night in a tiny room at the Villa Lane Zeng, woke up in the morning, and noticed that it was much cooler than Vientiane. We thought “hmmm... this is not so bad...” So we switched to a much larger room at the Nana Guesthouse, away from the main drag, and decided to stay a couple days to try some of the activities on offer: caving, kayaking tubing, etc. Near the guesthouse, we found great street food and a nice little noodle shop where men gather to play petanque.

We thought tubing would be a good way to cool off so after lunch, headed to the central tubing place where we rented a tube, and took a tuk-tuk to the starting point, about 3km away. What a scene! There are bars all along the river where tubers can float/paddle to to stop and have a drink. Well, there was a party in full swing going on at the first bar where kids were just hanging out getting drunk and stoned at 2:00 in the afternoon. Twenty, or even ten years ago, I probably would have joined in, but it just didn't appeal to me. So we got in the water and started paddling downriver. As we went further downstream, there were less bars and it was much more tranquil. And I found myself relaxing and wholly enjoying the experience... floating in a cool river at the hottest time of the day, lazily paddling while taking in the gorgeous scenery. Took us three hours to finish, and we capped it off with drinks while watching the sunset.

The next day we took an all-day caving, trekking and kayaking tour with Green Discovery, an outfit known for responsible eco-tourism. We had a fun day checking out several caves outside of town, had lunch, then trekked (more like walked) on dirt roads through a minority village before kayaking on the same part of the Mekong we had tubed the day before. The group was pretty cool, a young American couple and an older Canadian couple, and it was nice chatting with them. Yong, our Guide, spoke pretty good English and had a great bubbly personality. He would crack jokes and laugh really loud which would make us laugh too. We stopped a couple of times while kayaking... first, to have a drink at a bar that was actually in the water, and second, so that Erik could swing off a tall platform and splash into the water. It was a fun, active day and we were exhausted at the end of it.

Though we had a nicer time than I thought I would, there wasn't much else to keep us there so on to Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage City and the crown jewel of Laos.

Erik: The activities were really fun. We explored gigantic caves full of stalactites and stalagmites. Another cave we actually had to tube through on an underground river with headlamps for light. Pulling our kayaks up to a bar table in the middle of the river was an excellent break. Sipping a big Beer Laos with your feet actually on the rocky river bottom is a wonderful experience.

The real downside of Vang Vieng, though, were the young backpackers behaving badly. It's quite sad to see them laying like zombies watching the TV all day. I'd rather shoot myself than watch “Friends” re-runs all day long. Drugs are illegal in Laos, but I guess that's just ignored, and you can order “happy” shakes at these TV bars - made with marijuana, magic mushrooms or opium. All over town there were informational posters telling foreigners how to behave so as not to offend the locals; don't do drugs in public, don't point bare feet towards people when sitting, don't wear bathing suits, etc. These posters were everywhere. The tubing shop had 3 huge signs painted saying please don't walk through town in bathing suits – but few of the tourists paid any heed at all, and pretty much did everything they warned you not to do. Perhaps I'm becoming a prude as I get older, but I found the disregard for local customs offensive to me as well. After just a couple of days we were ready to move on to Luang Prabang.

Tubing and other photos...

Vang Vieng, Laos

Millionaires in Vientiane, Laos...

Talor: Arrived into Vientiane in the early morning and took a “jumbo” (a large tuk-tuk) to the city center. Had coffee at the Scandinavian Bakery where the coffee was pricey, but the free refills more than made up for it. Then we set out to look for housing. As we wandered around the streets going from guesthouse to guesthouse, we bumped into our friend, Veronique, who we met in Lago Atitlan, Guatemala, back in March. Small world! It was her last day in Vientiane so we spent the afternoon with her before she boarded a 25-hour bus bound for Vietnam. Yikes!

Later in the day we hit an ATM that allowed us to take out 2 million kip! Woo hoo! We were millionaires! Didn't matter that it was only a few days budget, we felt rich! Let the birthday celebrations continue...

Checked into the lovely Lao Heritage Hotel then spent a week indulging in international cuisine we had been missing... French (steak au poivre, prime rib), Vietnamese (bbq meatballs), Indian (veggies with naan), Chinese (dumplings), Italian (thin-crust pizza) and American (bbq ribs that had us licking our fingers). We also sampled high-end Lao food at Makphet, and street food at both the morning market and the night market. And breakfast was always yummy and filling at our favorite noodle shop where they serve a heaping bowl of sticky noodle soup for 5,000 kip (63 cents). Felt like I gained another 20 lbs!

We also sampled some of the nightlife, but being that Laos has a midnight curfew when businesses must shut down, it was all pretty tame. We often found ourselves the only patrons at the bars we walked into. At first we thought we were too early or maybe too early in the week, but it was like that on a Saturday night too. We went out to On The Rock, a live music venue where we had fun chatting with the owner and his friend, but when the band started up with Bee Gees cover tunes, we felt the need to move on. Headed to the cabaret club at the Anou Hotel where we danced with restraint, as everyone else did, to popular Lao tunes... watching was more fun than the dancing

Sightseeing was tough because it was soooo hot! But when we did get up the energy, we visited Patuxay, the Lao version of the Parisian Arc de Triomphe. The US donated the cement for an airport runway, but they decided an arc was a better idea. The Pha That Luang, Vientiane's most important monument, is a giant golden stupa which supposedly houses the Buddha's breastbone. It is quite the sight from a distance to see a shimmering golden monument on the horizon. But up close, it was a bit rundown and unimpressive. More impressive were the beautiful wats surrounding it. Then there was the Buddha Park, which was built by a man who tried to meld a variety of religions and the result is a collection of strange and kooky, but very cool looking statues.

All in all, we had a good week in Vientiane, but we both agreed it is the strangest capital we've been in. It seemed more like a small town than a capital city, where everyone is laid back and not much goes on. So onwards and upwards...

Erik: Yes, Vientiane is a strange, strange city. It feels very provincial for a nation's capital, and with a slow, lazy pace of life. We did see a few hummers driving around, so there are definitely some fat cats around, but for the most part it seemed that we were in a mid-size town rather than a capital city. T and I would go running (ok, “jogging”) in the morning in the Laos National Stadium, which was tiny and crumbling – more like a high school football stadium in the mid-west rather than a national soccer arena. Vientiane will be hosting the South East Asia (SEA) games later in the year, so workers were sprucing up the arena a bit, but hopefully no more than a few hundred spectators will show up, as the stadium can't hold much more than that.

It was very nice being able to choose from such a variety of food. After a couple of months of eating nothing but rice and noodles, we pigged out on everything we could get our hands on, though the breakfast noodle soup was still a staple for us. The heat was really unbearable, and we would only venture out for a few hours each day before running back to our lush AC room. T's birthday was a great excuse for us to spoil ourselves a little.

Our photos of Vientiane...

Vientiane, Laos