Final Days in Vang Vieng (Jan 23-24, 2013):
Although it has been over two weeks since we departed Laos,
we still had some stories to share from our last few days in Vang Vieng. We finally came across some Wifi in Inle
Lake, Myanmar that had adequate speed for uploading videos to YouTube.
The video compilation below captures highlights from those
last few days in Laos.
We all agreed that Laos was our favorite country up to that
point in the trip. The people were very friendly. The scenery stunning. The
pace of life much more relaxed than either Thailand or Cambodia – both
countries that we had superb visits to prior to Laos.
Joanie and I did a really neat Dawn Patrol bike ride on
single speeds (without the kids). We
left at daybreak and toured the interior of the nearby valley that was
completely encircled by peaks. We cycled
through many different villages over our 33km ride. The locals were gathering firewood, feeding
their animals, hanging laundry, and the like.
It was a beautiful morning and a great way to take a peek into local
life without the distraction of tourist amenities.
The kids (and us) also loved the tubing down the river. A
number of services rent inflated truck tire tubes for floating the river. The
rental includes the one-way drop off to the put-in point. We did the trip on two different days. It
took around 3 hours. I don’t think I had
done a tube float since my days in college in Eugene. It was a blast.
As I mentioned earlier, the party scene has been curtailed
severely by the local government. We heard through the grapevine that 27
Austrailian nationals died in Vang Vieng the previous year due to drowning and
alcohol poisoning. That got the local government’s attention. It was nice to
visit without the huge rave scene going on.
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