The Weekenders

Falling behind on blogging is one of the worst things that could happen to me, up there with falling into a squat toilet in heels and being tricked into taking shots of Lao Lao with the locals.  

It has been a great week and SImon's visit, although brief, was fantastic.  With the realization that the best pad thai can be purchased "take-away" for less than $2 and that Joma cookies are the best thing before sliced bread, he quickly adapted to Lao life and embraced the "Bor Pen Nyang" attitude.  

Spending Thursday and Friday at the office, we decided to pack our bags and escape the ASEM traffic and hectic city atmosphere for a relaxing weekend in Vang Vieng.  Buying 35,000 Kip bus tickets ($4.50), we took our chances and went north.  It did not disappoint.  The three hour bus trip was air conditioned and uneventful.  Everyone else had been traveling for a long time and I, with my small weekend bag and prior knowledge of the Vang Vieng setup, stuck out like a sore thumb.  But, no worries.

After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, we ventured over to "The Other Side," the site of my infamous Vang Vieng shenanigans the week before.  I was quickly recognized by the wait staff and Simon was unsure whether to take their "this girl is crazy" as a good or bad thing.  Making our way to the scenic part of the restaurant, we assumed the VV veg state, relaxing into the pillowed benches and ordering drinks.  With Gangnam style blasting in the background, the atmosphere was hyper and calm at the same time.  Just what we needed.

Our biggest mistake of the evening came when we decided to place a dinner order with a young woman who appeared to be our waitress.  Why was this a bad thing? Well, after an hour of more drinks and more friendly banter with my new Lao friends, none of our food had arrived.  The restaurant was starting to clear out and lights were being turned off when we finally inquired about our meal status.  What meal?  Oh, right.  That waitress speaks Hmong, only nods when talked to and is not responsible for taking orders.  I guess I appreciate the Lao thinking I was going to sit for over 4 hours only to drink... Anyways, one bite into our "pizza" we realized it hadn't been worth the wait at all, bor pen nyang.  

Closing behind us, we left TOS for Fat Monkeys, a popular bar on the same strip.  There, the bartender was freaking out about the arrival of a group of police who had inquired about the ex-pat employees business permits.  All was well, but the stressed out vibe was uninviting and we ventured on.  Having passed up on the pizza, we stopped to pick up a chocolate banana peanut butter pancake from a street vendor and savored the deliciousness all the way home.  

Laughing about the day's events, we only became more amusing upon turning on the tv.  The only semi english channel was airing Miss International Queen 2012.  Despite watching for a while and wondering why some of the women looked funny, it was the interviews that made it all clear.  Instead of the quintescential "how would you change the world?" question, contestants were asked how they would make the world a better place for transgenders.  I should have seen it coming.  

Saturday morning was off to a slow start Lao style.  Once we finally decided on an activity, we packed our bathing suits and hailed a tuk-tuk to take us to the Phou Kam caves and the blue lagoon.  Expecting peace and serenity, we were pleasantly surprised to have happened upon the biggest backpacker gathering in Vang Vieng.  We decided to hike up the cave and then hung out by the pristine blue waters of the refreshing lagoon.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Schools of fish at the Blue Lagoon, Vang Vieng, Laos.

Spelunking in rays of sunlight.  Phou Kam Cave, Vang Vieng, Laos. 

Blue Lagoon, Vang Vieng, Laos. 

Calling it a day and wanting to catch a dinner sunset, we set back off into town.  We finally found a restaurant that would serve us drinks AND dinner, with beautiful views and no rowdy backpacker crowd.  The food was delicious and it took everything we had to simply walk away from the dessert menu.  Although we had been invited to join people at Gary's Irish Pub, we opted to spend the evening perusing old jewelry shops and stocking up on BeerLao tanks.  With plans of watching the sunrise a la hot air balloon, we called it a very early night.

Dinner at Ban Sabai, Vang Vieng, Laos. 

When the alarm went off at 5 am, I was immediately confused by the sound of water in the room.  Of course the last thing to cross my mind was that it would rain, because in Laos, I clearly would expect a water pipe break or the shower to spontaneously turn on. But, rain it was.  Dreading the idea of being over 100 feet up in a soggy balloon, I sucked it up and got dressed for our 5:45 pick up.  Late as usual, we picked up the other two brave souls who had signed up for the excursion and were shuttled to the balloon headquarters, basically someone's unfurnished living room.  By 7 they had decided that it was too dangerous to balloon and by 7:30 we were back at the hotel.  

We caught another hour of sleep before breakfast, checking out and heading towards the Blue Lagoon again to visit a silk scarf shop we had stopped at the day before.  Loaded up on holiday gifts (spoiler alert) before making our way back into town to catch the bus back to Vientiane. 

Another three hour bus ride later and we were back in the heat of ASEM city.  With police positioned every 10 meters it was as if the whole place was at risk for attack.  We avoided all contact and went back to the apartment.  Feeling adventurous, we decided to try Xayoh steakhouse for dinner.  Great decision.  Food was just like home and hit the spot.  After making friends with the waiter and vowing to return, we left and walked into the heart of town to check out the nightlife.  We ended up at Full Moon Cafe and a waffle ice cream sandwich later, it was time to call it a night.

Monday morning was busy in the office and Simon, Brad and Kiki met me for a Kung's lunch at noon.  While Kiki and Brad cycled back to the Times, Simon joined me at work to meet my co-workers and come with me on my afternoon field trip to the handicraft festival. While I had hoped to get some insight for the QLA gift shop, the booths were uninspiring and I was much more interested in the gorgeous wooden furniture on display.  Despite all the cool crafts however, the highlight of my day came with the discovery of YoQueen, an Austrailian frozen yogurt chain in Vientiane.  Plain yogurt with fresh fruit and I was in absolute heaven.

Returned home to edit some reports and play with Sok Dee before another night on the town.  Being super unadventurous, we ended up back at Xayoh but switched it up with the orders so as to confuse the wait staff.  Enjoyed horrible American music and laughed about the lack of ketchup, steak knives, side salads, french fries and chicken at the seemingly well-stocked restaurant.  

Simon's last day was spent with lunch at Black Canyon Coffee for the #1 pad thai and a stop at an art gallery he had found during his solo adventures.  Scouting town for a proper birthday card for Kiki, we finally found a nice paper place and then treated ourselves to iced tea, if only to show Simon the ridiculous cup sealer and shaker.

Commencing birthday celebrations a day early for Simon's sake, we met up with Brad and Kiki at the Spring Roll Shop for spy wine and birthday presents.  Simon had of course flown over with some beautiful pendants and marbles and both K and B were astounded by the glass.  Leaving to check on their cats, Simon and I wandered home alone and decided to try the pizza take away place that looks so western it should be illegal.  We stuck to the basics and ended up with a great pepperoni pizza.  Now I know.

Getting into election mode, we watched Ides of March on HBO and fell asleep waiting for the election results to roll in.  Waking up too early for any news, we went to Kung's for a final sticky rice pancake of the trip and bid farewell.  (Imagine tuk-tuk creaking off into the distance...)

Spent the rest of the morning at a meeting for Victim Assistance and preparing a poster presentation for a Southeast Asia regional conference at the end of November.  With Mark leaving the country, all World Education materials are my responsibility and I'm excited for new tasks that will actually be completed.  

Oh Laos!

Vang Vieng, Laos.