Loving Laos (Part 1)

SY, Gan and I are back in SG after an awesome 10 day long vacation in Laos. Initially, we had doubts about spending so much time there. Questions in the line of "why so long" and "what's there to do" have been thrown at each of us separately, and we've had our fair share of dealing with quizzical expressions and remarks from others regarding our location choice!

In a nutshell, the trip was fabulous! It went beyond our expectations and save for the afternoon heat, the 10 days we spent there did not feel long at all. Perhaps all that quizzing and doubtful looks from friends succeeded in bringing our expectations down a few notches lower? Anyway, I'm really glad I made the trip with the gals...the thought of not going did cross my mind as I've to start my new job immediately after the trip if I went. Scarily enough, I almost let that miserable thought win me over...but I'm glad my love for travelling subdued that self-pity monster in me.

We flew from Singapore to KL via Airasia on 24 Feb 2011 and transited at LCCT (I think it stands for Low Cost Carrier Terminal) in KL. After killing 3 hours in Oldtown coffee (great food, btw!), we boarded our next flight to Vientiane, which took 2.5 hours.

We're not supposed to take photos on the tarmac but I snapped this photo before I gained possession of this knowledge...hehe

By the time we got to Vientiane, it was late afternoon and the friendly manager from AV hotel was there to meet us and escort us to the hotel. We didn't do much for the rest of the day except chill out at a cafe that eventually became our hot favourite - JoMA! Excellent drinks, sandwiches, cheesecake and free wifi! Despite being a relatively backward city, we were more connected in Laos than anywhere else in the world! There's free wifi in almost every hotel, guesthouse, cafe and pub in Vientiane & Luang Prabang!

Our preliminary exploration of Vientiane.

The next day, we took a bus to Vang Vieng (VV), supposedly a backpackers' heaven with "Friends" and "Family Guy" re-runs showing in every cafe. The ride took 4 hours and it wasn't particularly pleasant as some foreigners behind me had their feet up the back of my chair...eeewwww....When we arrived in VV, it struck me as a rather dead town. 2pm and hardly anyone in sight (we later read that people party and booze into the wee hours of the night and hence wake up very late the next day). Our guesthouse in VV was called Popular View but unfortunately, it didn't give us a good view of the Mekong river.

Despite the bad reviews about VV, we had lots of fun there! We went tubing, which basically means you sit on a huge rubber tyre and float down the Mekong river with a can of beer in your hands. Lots of bars along the way so no fear of staying sober! At your signal, the bar owners will happily throw you a rope which you cling onto and they will drag you in. No pics of tubing as we made a (wrong) decision not to bring our cams with us, lest they got wet.

We also went hot air ballooning the next day and though we didn't get the best pics as it was raining, the experience was worth it!

The picturesque view in VV.

How to blow up a hot air balloon.

So pretty!!