And then there was 2 cont....

Ok gang sorry about the rushed blog last time, Internet was crazy expensive so i didn't have much time, but now its all good and i will do my best to tell you the story. It starts back in Hanoi northern Vietnam, on our way back from the Halong bay trip. So on the bus we give the guy a business card for our hotel so that he knows where to drop us off. Then suddenly he just pulls over, hops out and starts pulling our bags out. I had to make a short goodbye with Stav and then hurry off the bus to grab my bags. Once off we started to ask the man which way we were supposed to go, and he just pointed down a busy street and said "down there". And after that the man jumped back in the mini bus crammed with about 17 tourists and headed off. Chad and I grabbed our things and started making our way to the hotel. The thing was we had purchased a 24 hour bus ticked supposed to take us from Hanoi, Vietnam to Vientiane, Laos. Capital to capital. If this is beginning to sound rough, believe me it gets alot worse. We only had 20min until we had to leave for the bus trip so we ran around frantically and tried to find some food and drinks for the ride. After arriving back at the hotel a man just busts in the front door and says "are you on the bus to Vientiane? Lets go!" So we grab our bags, run outside and see that its 2 motor bikes that are here to pick us up. They load our giant bags on and zoom off down the road. Now Vietnamese people are the most insane drivers you have ever seen, and some of them feel that they are unstoppable once they hop on these bikes. This was the case with our drivers. We head off bobbing and weaving our way through traffic, barley ever stopping and blowing many many red lights. At this point i have no idea which way that chad went so i am just hoping we are gonna end up on the same bus. So i get off in the middle of nowhere, chad nowhere to be seen and on some super busy road. I sit down with some local people and once of them buys me some candy and a glass of tea and they are very interested as to what i am doing here, but they spoke next to no English. Then after awhile chad shows up and vans full of white people begin to arrive. They start to move us all like cattle towards the buses but luckily chad and I get placed on the same one. This is were things start to go bad... First wrong choice was to get the very back seat on the bus because the seats wouldn't recline because there was an insane amount of boxes and such on the bus. So between all the white people we had managed to make some friend from the Halong bay trip and we were split into 2 different buses. So we drive for a few hours and then we pull over and all the lights turn on. The other bus pulls over in front of us and the people begin to unload the first bus and put whatever they were carrying onto our bus. After awhile all the people from the other bus start to pile on our bus and it begins to become VERY full. Stuff was thrown into the isle and insane cargo like fridge doors are straped to the roof. Then the next terrible thing to happen was that you were aloud to smoke on the bus so it very quickly became very gross. So we drive for a few more hours and then we pull over once again so everyone can eat and go to the bathroom. The bathroom was quite a scene complete with about 15 squeeling pigs, and 2 of the most nasty bathrooms you have ever seen in your life. So I sit down with the brittish and irish girls that we met and have a few cups of tea, and they pass around some Vietnamese candy. Then as we pull out of this place, i look onto the road and there is a motor bike that has clearly been in an accident and is smashed all over with a pair of shoes a few feet behind it. So then by this point its about 11:30pm and things are starting to get very uncomfortable on the bus and by this point this very weird Vietnamese guy had moved into the isle and was trying to sleep there. Chad was on the other side of the isle sitting against the window with one of the British girls sitting next to him, and then next to her was this creepy guy. So at one point blankets are sort of distributed around the bus but there is only one for chad and the brit and none for the guy in the isle. So chad and the brit just share the blanket because it was quite large, but then this really weird guy in the isle starts to snuggle up to the British girl, and then just grabbed the blanket putting him and her under it....Then he kept on putting his legs on hers and she kept telling him to quit but he never would so by like 2:30am she gets up and moves to the front of the bus. The next few hours were terrible filled with rain, cold, tossing and turning. At about 5:30 am we arrived to the Vietnamese-Lao border. The weather at this point was absolutely insane, like 110% humidity and just a wall of water suspended in the sky. So we hand our passports in not really knowing whats going on, and we are charged a fee of 1$ as a deportation fee from Vietnam. Then we all scuttle our way to the Lao immigration and the Vietnamese people become crazy and start pushing and shoving everyone on the bus. After alot of very confused back and forth and being charged the most for the Lao visa out of any country on earth we make our way back to the bus. I am looking at the ditch thinking about how much rain they must get in this mountainous area when i see a huge truck dumped over onto its side. A crew of men were working with lines and pulleys to try to flip the truck back over. So at this point the sun is starting to break out from the clouds and i am sooo happy to see it once again, as it has been almost a week with no sun in northern Vietnam. After a few more hours we stop again to grab some much needed food. There was some very strange things on the menu such as pigs ears and tongue. Then after a horrible 6 more hours of doom we finally arrive in the sunny peaceful capital of Laos. We quickly find a place to stay and are so glad to be off that horrible bus ride. After awhile we go out with everyone that we had met on the bus and went out and partied until 5am. The next day was a rough one to say the least so we took it pretty easy and just explored around the town. After that we went north to Vang Vieng, probably the most touristy part in all of Laos. It is famous for its "friends bars" showing that horrible tv show that i tried so hard to forget, and there are TONS of these bars in town. The other main thing that is done in Vang Vieng is the tubing! The tubing is beautifully set along a range of mountains and the first part of the river is crammed with riverside bars that you either float up to or have some one throw you a line and pull you in. Every bar comes complete with a huge rope swing and the locals are always showing off by doing insane tricks off of the rope. One bar even had a huge water slide that was one of the best things to do on the river. And the best part was that all the swinging was free and you could do it as many times as you wanted. All in all it is the PERFECT way to escape the mid day heat that looms around Vang Vieng. It averaged around 36 degrees when we were there and its supposed to be even hotter next month. Now we are sitting in picture perfect Louang Probang Northern Laos, and it has to be the most relaxed city on the whole earth. Its so beautiful to see the number of temples and monks roaming around this old city, it feels so exotic. Yesterday we spent the day exploring and i ended up meeting 2 monks that spoke some english and had a very good time speaking to them and asking them about they're lives. But as a typical Lao person they are always interested to know where you come from, what your doing, how long you been here, if its your first time to laos, and if you like the place. It was really an amazing experiance and i am hoping to meet up with the same monk today so we can speek more together. Well i had best be off here and sorry for taking so long to update but i will try to keep more up to date.

All the best to everyone
D