Pastry Binge and Machetes

Border crossings are usually stressful, but luckily, the Friendship Bridge into Vientiane was easy peasy and after a short time, I was on my way into a land of baked goods...I mean, Laos. Before coming to Thailand, I knew little about Laos and didn't have much of an interest in it. But, after hearing travel stories from backpackers and learning more of its history (and the destruction the US caused upon it during the Vietnam War), I was really ancy to get there. It definitely lived up to, and for sure surpassed, anything I had envisioned.

After wandering the streets to find a hostel, we dumped our bags off and basically ran to one of many bakeries.Within an hour of being in Laos, I was happily eating a sandwich and lemonade. As much as we wanted to go cafe-hopping, we knew we should explore the area, so we strolled through the streets, popping in and out of shops, galleries, and Wats (and many monk chats!) before succumbing to cafe #2. What can I say? I've been deprived in Thailand. We then set off on an epic walk around the town and made our way to Patuxai, a beautiful gate that resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The three of us thought it was gorgeous, but apparently the city disagrees. The description on the structure calls it 'a concrete monster.' Sad! We continued meandering through the streets, observed a pretty large carnival, drank the best chocolate milkshakes in the world and then called it a night. It was a quick visit because we were leaving the next morning for Vang Vieng.

Unfortunately, Vang Vieng is known among the backpacker crowd for its ridiculous drunken tubing scene. There is a beautiful river in the midst of lush green mountains and small town Laos, and it is now filled with drunk backpackers raging throughout the day and night. Luckily, the scene was pretty easy to avoid and we opted for a more local and scenic tour. We took a 9 mile trek to the Blue Lagoon. The long walk was absolutely breathtaking and gave a huge glimpse into Laos living. As we made our way through the mud and dirt paths, we came across kittens, puppies, cows, water buffalo, pigs, and cute little chldren playing with machetes. It was really cool to see and interact with the Hmong people living with basically nothing. We took the time to "chat" with some people and to take lots of photos of the ridiculously pretty surroundings. By the time we made it to the Lagoon we were more than happy to take a dip in the serene waters.

After roughing it for the day, we found one of 20 or so restaurants that aired episodes of Friends all day and night, and enjoyed some food with Ross, Rachel, Phoebe and co. Vang Vieng had done us good. It's definitely sad to see a town, so rich in culture and beauty, taken over by backpackers, but Vang Vieng is still able to retain its true identity and we definitely took advantage of it. So far Laos had really stunned me and I was totally crushing on it. And when we arrived in Luang Prabang, I was done for. It was love at first sight.