Vang Vieng, Laos

Oh man, Im tired. Sleeping on the Jungle floor really takes it out of you.

This post is going to be brief. Im, as the English say, nackered. Dont even know where to start. Took the slow boat into Laos, took two days. That was fun. It was really a drunken party on a small boat full of Ducks and giant Catfish. I dont want to disturb anyone but the Irish like to drink and drink they can. I saw a Catfish loaded onto the boat that was maybe 3 foot long, no joke. It had to weigh close to 40 lbs. They kept the fish tied to a stick in the river while they loaded everything else on. It was so big it could be tied to something! I was joking, probably in poor taste, that that Catfish was the Secretary of Defense of Laos and that he going down the Mehkong to his vacation house to sip whiskey with his Mistress. He just had to get away from it all for a bit. That thing was so big though; it had a face.

Hung around in Laung Prabang for a while. Then headed to Vang Vieng which is where I am now. The bus on the way here was a disaster. I dont even want to get into so Ill do it briefly. We were lied to about the duration of the trip, It was full of people, someone stole our seats, I had to sit next to a local who was spitting out the window the whole time and across from some guy with open sores, the roads are so bumpy the locals get sick on their own buses, the bus broke down after 8 hours within 20 minutes of my destination, the babies all begin to cry as the nearby Thunderstorm moves in, the power goes out on the bus, another bus stops after an hour, I get separated from my friend, the bus takes me 5 hours past where I wanted to go and I had to take another bus back the next day resulting in18 hours of bus when I was told in was 5 hours. This account doesnt do justice to having to sit with your long dancers legs jammed into the seat in front of you while the guy next to you debates whether or not to throw up. Nuts! Did I mention afterwards I met a guy who had a guard on his bus with a AK47. Apparently, there are still guerillas along the road we broke down on. Im sure they wont both an innocent American though . . . . . LAOS!

I went tubing yesterday. Again craziness; cant go into all of it. But truly an experience I will never forget.

Sorry no pics. Laos Internet Connections dont live up to its reputation.

Im still traveling with the Canadian guy I met in Pai. We have picked up a couple others along the way. Things are going well.

. . . . .

Also, India isnt going to happen. Im going to have to eat the cost of my Visa. I decided if I want to be in Sydeny for Christmas and New Years that doesnt leave me enough time to get there and do the place justice. And I couldnt get a cheap ticket there. I think Ill hit the Phillipines, Indonesia and Malaysia for real instead. But this time in Malaysia, I wont have Herb to protect me.