Tomorrow afternoon we board a bus leaving Vientiane for a little town called Vang Vieng farther up North. The night before we pack up and move on to another town is always a little bittersweet for us. We have to say goodbye to the guesthouse or little bungalow we had been staying in and made our home for a couple days or weeks. And it’s hard leaving the local market we had gotten used to where the sweet old lady cooked us eggs every morning. Plus, when you are on the road this long it’s nice to stay in one place for a bit every once in awhile. Still, we leave for Vang Vieng tomorrow at 1 and we are utterly pumped. Evidently this little town has become quite the popular spot on the backpacker route in Laos, but for good reason. Lime stone cliffs and huge caves and river tubing through the jungle and nearby Hmong villages…I can’t even wait. It should only take 3 or 4 hours through the mountains by bus to get there, and this time we are prepared with plenty of Dramamine. Yess.

We have been here in Vientiane for the past couple weeks, mostly staying at David’s family’s house outside of town or at fancy guesthouses near the city center (fancy meaning hot water and televisions and it’s AWESOME). Vientiane is incredibly beautiful . If you simply smile at just about anyone here they will invite you in to their home for a cold beer (literally). The city has grown just enough to have a smooth infrastructure compared to a lot of cities we have experienced (sigh…poor Phnom Penh), but it’s still quiet and charming and it feels safe, even at night. The weather is much better than the South as well – “hot time” doesn’t quite hold the sway here as it did down in Pakse and we are very thankful for it. It’s a shame most backpackers just past through here on their way to Vang Vieng or Vietnam, but I suppose that just leaves more for us. Nothing like kicking back at a street cafe near the Mekong with a cold Beerlao in your hand watching all the crazy motorbikes race by…. If we can make it happen, we’re coming back here as soon as possible and you should join us.

I got food poisoning. Again. Or, as David likes to call it, “The Affliction.” It happened less than 1 month after the last Affliction and it just seems entirely unfair. Last time the culprit, as you recall, was a delicious bowl of Thai chicken curry. An old favorite of mine which I have yet to consume since. This time? VIETNAMESE SANDWICH! The vendor seemed so sweet and like she made a killer sandwich, but little did I know… I woke up later that night feeling like there was a demon inside my intestines scraping his way out with a spoon. And let met tell you this: Laos bathrooms are totally tolerable until you are puking your guts out at 3 am. That’s all I have to say about that.

As we move North now we are making our way over to Vietnam, the end of our adventure. It was hard to say goodbye to David’s family today because we know we most likely won’t be seeing them after we enter Vietnam. Especially John and Jay, two of the goofiest and smartest kids I think I have ever met. How we will ever live without the midnight kung foo tournaments or the endless question and answer periods about the English language, I will never know. And as always, Kouk made some of the most delicious meals we have had since touching down 3 months ago in Bangkok. We will miss them (and the food) a lot, but remembering we came here to travel is getting us itchy to move on.

And where are the pictures of this increasingly-epic journey you may be wondering? Well…we have over 400 that need to be uploaded that we have taken since the new year but unfortunately our little memory card in our little camera got a VIRUS. Not to worry, though. David of course fixed everything right up while I was typing this and we will be uploading the pictures upon arrival in Vang Vieng. There’s some real gems in there, too, so come back and check them out.

Please leave us a comment or two and let us know how YOU are doing…we do indeed miss you…

Much Love,

Kevin and David

p.s…if you want a call from the future please email me your phone number – I had an iphone meltdown and my life is now hidden away in Apple’s basement….

Check out the albums

Vientiane

Ban Naxaithong