Hello from Vientiane, the capital of Laos. I've been making my way up the country, and am getting closer to the north now. The wifi in this country goes from nonexistent to painfully slow, so my apologies that I've been--and will continue to be--a little MIA this month. But I'm still doing great!
I've been stopping in small little towns and moving relatively quickly from place to place. It's been a lot of watching the countryside roll by though bus windows!
After I left Pakse I spent 2 nights in Tat Lo, a sleepy little village with beautiful scenery all around. I was staying with a French girl for most of the time and we spent our days walking a lot, seeing waterfalls and a small village, reading, relaxing, and enjoying the laid back atmosphere. We also spent a night cooking at a guesthouse and then eating a delicious meal with the family who runs it. Yum!
I stopped off in Champasak for a night on my way North, but there was really nothing to do in this small city so the next morning, after walking around for a while, I kept moving, up to Thakhek.
For a long time now I've been looking forward to my time in Tha Khek. The city itself is nothing to write home about, but many travelers do "the loop," a 3-4 day moto ride through the countryside, stopping off to see the many caves in the area, enjoying the gorgeous mountains towering around you, and sleeping in small guesthouses in little villages. It's a way to get off the beaten path, you can interact more with locals, and it's just meant to be a really fun way to see more of central Laos. I don't drive a moto but its always easy to hop on the back of someones bike and tag along, which is what I planned to do.
I've been stopping in small little towns and moving relatively quickly from place to place. It's been a lot of watching the countryside roll by though bus windows!
After I left Pakse I spent 2 nights in Tat Lo, a sleepy little village with beautiful scenery all around. I was staying with a French girl for most of the time and we spent our days walking a lot, seeing waterfalls and a small village, reading, relaxing, and enjoying the laid back atmosphere. We also spent a night cooking at a guesthouse and then eating a delicious meal with the family who runs it. Yum!
I stopped off in Champasak for a night on my way North, but there was really nothing to do in this small city so the next morning, after walking around for a while, I kept moving, up to Thakhek.
For a long time now I've been looking forward to my time in Tha Khek. The city itself is nothing to write home about, but many travelers do "the loop," a 3-4 day moto ride through the countryside, stopping off to see the many caves in the area, enjoying the gorgeous mountains towering around you, and sleeping in small guesthouses in little villages. It's a way to get off the beaten path, you can interact more with locals, and it's just meant to be a really fun way to see more of central Laos. I don't drive a moto but its always easy to hop on the back of someones bike and tag along, which is what I planned to do.
No such luck. Apparently it's really difficult to do the loop without your own bike; lots of long bumpy roads, so along with your backpack (a small one, but still), its not really a trip meant for 2 people. And I wasn't with anyone with a bike anyway, so it just wasn't working out. I thought about learning to ride a bike; i'm sure it's really easy, and there are SO many times in Asia where everything wold be so much easier with your own wheels. Pretty much everyone traveling in Asia rents a bike at some point, tons of people use them throughout their whole trip. It gives you so much freedom, opportunity, an adventure. But alas, safety first for me, I just didn't feel comfortable doing it, so I gave up the idea of doing the loop. Ah well. I met up with others who weren't doing the loop , but instead organized a tuk tuk tour around the area. I joined up with them, and we basically did the first part of the loop. We stopped at 4 caves, and then ended the day at a lake. It was really nice, and a good compromise since I wasn't doing the full 4 day adventure. I felt satisfied.
The same group (2 German girls, a German guy, and a French Canadian couple) all got up early the next morning to go to Kong Lo cave. It's a bit out of the way and a pain to get to, but really worth it! And the ride there is beautiful with more mountain scenery. The cave itself is massive, we rode through the 7.5kilometers (!) in little boats, headlamps at the ready since its super dark inside. At some places it's up to 100 meters high. Really impressive!
The next morning 5 of the 6 of us caught an early bus to Vientiane, where I am now. (Like I said, lots of buses!) I arrived here yesterday afternoon, and will likely stay 3 nights. There's not much to do but wander and eat, but that's ok with me. I applied for a 60day Thai visa today (a few hours of bureaucratic inconvenience but not too bad), and I pick up my visa and passport tomorrow. This way, I can spend the full 2 months in Thailand without having to do a border run and/or leave the country.
I also had lunch today with my friend Sheyla, who has been living here for about 2 years now. I know her through Yana and Chita, and haven't seen her since their wedding almost 2 years ago. (Wow, guys, 2 years!?!? Really?!) She is just the loveliest and warmest person ever, and it was such a treat to see her. It's always nice to see a friendly face while traveling. Ill hopefully see her again before I leave; it was a real spot of sunshine (not that I need more sun here...) seeing her smiling face.
So all is well. Time is absolutely flying by, I cannot understand how it's almost March. Someone please slow down the clock!! I'm starting to think more clearly about the rest of my trip, it looks like ill be in Laos through mid March (1-2 more weeks), Thailand for about 2 months or so, then hopefully I can still squeeze in Indonesia and Malaysia before heading back to the US. Not sure if that's possible, but ill try! This can change at any time, but for now, that's the plan. It's hard to decide, once you're in this part of the world you want to see everything, since its so close! I hear incredible things about Myanmar, I've always wanted to go to India, China is just a bus ride away...and don't even get me started on Australia...and from there, of course New Zealand and Fiji...eeep. (This is all I do on long bus rides). But those are trips for another day, can't do it all now. Just have to enjoy the time I have here now! I'm a lucky girl :)
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