I got your point about "The road of excess leads to the path of wisdom" and managed to back out of the condo on Thursday. A little upset, I packed a light bag and crossed the border into Laos on Friday morning. I'm in Vang Vieng now and am making my way towards the Luang Prabang World Heritage site.

Already, Laos is gorgeous and raw beyond words. After 30 minutes in Vientiane I knew I wanted to leave. The guest houses were deserted and the streets were sprawling and sleepy in this tiny capital (and only real "big city") of Laos. The guy sitting in front of me on the bus ride north was carrying three chickens, a backpack, and a machine gun. All I've got are the clothes on my back, a bathing suit, some Nutella and crackers, a few books, a comb, my contact stuff, and a growing collection of kip bills. Because of inflation and a generally poor economy, the American dollar is worth slightly more than 10,000 Laotian kip. Customers to grocery and convenience stores, petrol stations, and other areas of commerce which cater to Western products (and thus higher prices) are reduced to carrying literally bundles of kip bills. A simple exchange of US$20 yields over 50 notes of the largest bill.

After 30 minutes in Vang Vieng, I again knew that I wanted to leave. The place is simply too gorgeous to entertain my wreckless travel break. Beneath the lush tropical vegetation that covers the stiff limestone cliffs just across the river are a smattering of unexplored and hidden caves. The influx of tourism here within the past two years has encouraged several enterprising Lao people to set up shop advertising their "Guided Tour" services. For less than US$7 each, myself and six other travellers composed a circus that would spend the day kayaking our way down the Nam Song river to spend two hours exploring an underwater cave and its connected passageways.

The following day I got a mountain bike and hired a boat to cross the river again. After approx seven kilometers biking down unpaved and often washed-out roads, a 200 meter climb up a steep limestone trail led me to the unmarked entrance of the beautifully empty Phu Kham cavern. Today has been a rest day after a rather rough evening drinking bootleg Lao whisky with set of local men and two Hawaiian girls, and tomorrow is an early bus ride into Luang Prabang. Wish You were here.  ¶ Permalink 7/05/2003 10:59:00 PM