Family Fun in Laos

We spent the last 5 days visiting Bo's family in Vientiane, the capitol of Laos. They are so nice and were so incredibly welcoming. And everyone is so laid back in Laos--nobody wants to worry about anything or offend anyone. It was very relaxing after the whirlwind of temples in Siem Reap. We visited with family, checked out the city a bit, and spent ALOT of time eating. Which was perfectly fine by me, as I love the food. It was quite amusing at Bo's Uncle's house. There were 9 of us staying there--Bo's Aunt and Uncle that own the house, 3 of their 5 kids, us, and Bo's Aunt and Uncle visiting from Germany. Bo's cousin Phi moved to Laos from Germany about 6 weeks ago, and was around quite a bit. Now stick with me here, of these 10 people 7 speak Lao--Bo and I don't speak any, and Phi is just learning. Phi, Phi's parents and Bo speak German. Phi, Bo, and I speak English, as do two of Bo's younger cousins--Thuy and Lang. Phi was the translator, and when he was not around, or if Thuy was at school, the scene went something like this: Aunt we are staying with says something to Aunt from Germany in Lao, Aunt from Germany asks Bo something in German, Bo talks to me about it in English, and responds in German, German Aunt translates back into Lao. It was hilarious. Mostly we talked about food and eating. Phi took us to a couple really great places in Vientiane. It's amazing how much you can actually get to know someone, even if you can only say "Hello", "Thank you", "It's Good" and "I'm full" to them. The Aunts especially loved that I eat all the Lao food (except the chicken foot soup, I didn't really dive in on that one, but I don't think they noticed).

This morning we took the bus from Vientiane north to Vang Vieng in the mountains. It's kind of a touristy resort of a town, but so much fun. We are staying at this cute little place on the river--all bungalows. We got in around 1 and headed out to go kayaking on the river around 2. The river is pretty slow this time of year--class I or II rapids. (Justine, April and I could definitely manage it in a canoe, upright). I love being in foreign countries and experiencing the differences in safety requirements and instruction. There were 6 of us kayaking together, and after getting off the truck the guide asked us if we'd ever used a paddle before and he never really spoke to us again, except to gesture us over to a bar on the side of the river. He was behind us the entire way. So funny. So there are tons of tubers on this river, as well. And as you float down the river there are tons of bars on either side. You can bar hop your way all the way back to your hotel. The spot we stopped at was by far the best. Imagine Spring Break, in Laos, and that's sort of what was going on at this place. We just came from a family visit--I didn't even really wear a tank top the whole time, as Laos is a very traditional country, and here are girls dancing around in bikinis. We can only imagine what the locals think about the Falang ("tourists"). There were people playing soccer, volleyball, lounging in thatched-roof cabana-type buildings, everyone is drinking Beer Lao, and the absolute best part....you have three options in which to fling yourself into the river: zipline, swing, or slide. The waterslide dropped from a platform about 30 feet up in the air, and had a ramp coming off the bottom at about a 45% angle up into the air--people were getting launched. I opted for the zip line. Twice. It was awesome. Again you climb about 30 feet in the air, grab the handles and hang on until the line stops dead and you get launched about 15 feet into the water. So fun! The other members of our kayak group were older folks from Switzerland and I don't think they really appreciated our enthusiasm for the spot. We had a great time. We pulled back up to our bungalow as the sun was setting behind the mountains and sheer, limestone cliffs. It was gorgeous.

I would like to briefly mention the "Friends" phenomenon here in Vang Vieng, as it is very amusing and quite bizarre. There are 8-10 restaurants that play back to back episodes of Friends all night, non-stop. And it is blaring out into the streets. So you're walking around in Laos, looking for dinner, and passing Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Ross and Phoebe in tons of restaurants. Laugh track is your background music. Other restaurants have capitalized on this, and expanded into movies and other tv shows, and some to soccer games. So all the tables and booths are facing the tvs. And all the booths are raised platforms with lap tables and pillows to stretch out and relax on. It's hilarious. I think the locals quickly figured out that people are wiped out from the drinking, swimming and sunning all day, and just want to crash at night. So that's what everybody does--eats dinner and relaxes in front of the tv. There are a bunch of bars, so I'm sure there is nightlife, as well--but I have to say the crashing is a nice option.

And since I know you're all having such charming weather back in the states, I'll take this opportunity to mention that we had to buy $5 sweatshirts tonight, as it has gotten quite cool here--it's in the low 60s right now. Brrrrr.

We're still deciding if we'll go tubing all day tomorrow, or head up to Luang Prabang by bus. We have booked airline tickets out of Luang Prabang into Hanoi, Vietnam on Christmas Eve.