Laos continued...

We finally waved the white flag and just booked another driver, and off we went. We got lucky in that our fellow travelers were Americans who had been living in Bangkok for some time now, and were just on a trip to do some mountain biking in Vang Vieng. They spoke a fair amount of Thai, which is similar enough to Laoatian that they can communicate for the most part.

Vientiane is a dirty, loud, cramped Lao city so we were glad to be on our way. Vang Vieng is located in rolling hills about 4 hours north of Vientiane. In the US the drive would only take about and hour and half, but here the longest stretch of uninterrupted pavement is about 300 yards, at which point you come to a bone-jarring, pothole riddled dirt stretch, followed by another short stretch of pavement. The drivers always seem to be in a massive hurry, passing around blind corners and up hills. We were lucky enough to be carrying about 300 pounds of bathroom tiles as well, causing the suspension to max out over every bump. Not long after we started we had a flat tire. In Nascar fashion the driver had it switched in no time with the treadless spare and we were on our way. Flat two happened about an hour later. The driver yanked the tire off, flagged down a passing moped, and took off down the road, leaving us on the side of the road in the sun to wonder just how long it was going to be since we seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. To our surprise he showed up about 20 minutes later toting a spare. He put it on and off we went. It turns out there was a town just around the corner. We stopped there for about an hour while the mechanic fixed our two flats, and then off we went again. After two flat you would have thought the driver would have toned it down a notch or two, but it was only peddle to the metal for this guy. Flat three happened all too soon. Again he switched it out and off we went, just as fast! Everytime we hit a bump and bottom out we would yell, but he didnt seem to get the picture. Luckily we made made it all the way to the bus station in Vang Vieng before he realized the fourth, and last spare, was flat. 4 flats! We found a guesthouse and hit the sack. To cover about 150 miles it took 9 hours.

The next day we rented mountain bikes and explored some of the nearby limestone caves. The locals here rely almost completely on tourist money and will therefore make the smallest crack in a rock sound like most beautiful cave in the world. We did explore a neat one that had a small clear pool at the end that Riley and I jumped into. Swimming in a pitch black cave is a terrifying experience. The locals for the most part are nothing but smiles, especially the further you get away from the tourist trail. Today we went "tubing" which is what attracts thousands of young travelers. You rent an inner tube from the town-owned tube shop and catch a tuk-tuk  that drops you off up river, where you float down, stopping at numerous bars along the way to partake in rope-swings, beer pong, and other shenanigans. We ate something bad and Alex and Ash have spent the evening regurgitating fried rice. Comes with the territory unfortunately. All is well now and we have bus tickets booked tomorrow for Phonsavan, which should be far less touristy. The town boasts a collection of giant ancient stone jars that no one knows anything about. Should be interesting to see a more rural and authentic Laos.

Garrett n' Ashley