Relaxing - Happy Laos Style

With our Vietnam days almost behind us, we had one last preparation to make before we head to Laos - we need US dollars. However, with the shadow of Communism still looming large in Vietnam, we quickly learned that it was against the law for any bank to change dong to dollars. Our problem was semi-solved when we were approached by 2 Japanese "business men" who needed to change their dollars into dong (also an illegal exchange). So, after meeting them on a bench across the street, we each had $100US, which we hoped was not fake. (ah, the chances one takes with bench side money transfers..) Not wanting to go into a country with few ATMs that empty handed, we wandered over to a "tourist info hut" (aka a girl talking on her cell phone near a rack of postcards and one map) by the lake in downtown Hanoi. She circled a small street on our map and sent us on our way. We assumed that there was a money exchange somewhere there not associated with a bank. Given what I wrote about the specialized streets in my last blog, we should not have been surprised to find, as we wandered down this tiny, cramped back alley street, a bunch of "gold shops". It was quickly evident that, along with "shoe street" and "bra street", there was also "illegal money exchange street". At first glance, you look at the shops and think "gee, these gold shops really don't have a lot of gold to sell". Then, upon closer inspection, you see the employees of the gold shops are sitting behind money counting machines, carrying huge bundles of money. So, we wandered into a few and asked their rate. When we found a kind-of good rate (not like they are selling at fair market price!) we trekked to an ATM, at this time it was POURING rain, and returned to our chosen shop. The lady behind the counter (the ladies in these countries are always in charge of the $$) looked at the soaking wet white girls with a wad of dong in each hand and said "rate went up!" Seriously! But, what can you do in such black market dealings in the rain?? With our new rate, we changed our money and were off the next morning on a flight to the tiny country of Laos.


Arriving in our first destination, the old historic capital of Luang Prabang, we immediately noticed two things: 1) the humidity had, mercifully, decreased. and 2) silence. Gone were the yelling merchants and honking horns of Vietnam, replaced by quiet shop keepers and bicycles. This tiny town is known for the many wats (Buddhist temples) in the area, as well as a place where the majority of Laotian monks come for study. After checking into a cheap but nice guesthouse, we spent the rest of the day lazily exploring the town. Our favourite place was Wat Xieng Thong (Temple of the Golden City). This is said to be one of the most beautiful temples in all of Laos, and the colourful golds, reds, green, and blues in the tiles were gorgeous. The tree of life mosaic was beautiful, and there were monks in coloured robes all around the temple working and praying. Also, note the large Buddha in the doorway behind us! We also saw some local boys swimming in the muddy Mekong River... they are almost camouflage! In the middle of our temple tour, we stopped for a drink of the famous local whisky called Lao Lao - absolutely disgusting. Like warm tequila gone very very bad! That night, we ate on the street (bbq and veggie buffet!) and shopped in the night market, being sure to return to our guesthouse before the town's strict midnight curfew.



The next morning, we got up at 5am to walk around the streets and see the hundreds of monks living in the town collect alms. Since monks are forbidden to have any material possessions, they rely on the charity of the townspeople for their daily food. The townspeople see feeding the monks as a blessing of faith and good luck. So, every single morning, to ensure they have food for the day, every monk, big and small, walks the streets and they must take whatever they are offered. It was a beautiful and humbling sight to see the monks in their bright robes at dawn. Well worth the early wake up!


Next we traveled, like cramped cattle, in a non-aircon 5 hour minibus along very winding roads to the town of Vang Vieng. This town is a "must do" for the true hippie backpackers - an amazing river for lazy tubing and drinking, and all of the restaurants serve "happy shakes" and play re-runs of American tv shows (mostly Friends and Family Guy). Not hard to guess what makes the shakes, and the hippies, "happy". After a day of rest as we both battled a mild cold, we took to the Nam Song river for the notorious tubing experience! SO. MUCH. FUN. You rent a tube, pile into a tuk tuk, and drive up the river. Once there, you begin your journey down the fast moving river, stopping as many times as you like on the way. Make shift bars line the river on both sides (with names such as "first bar" "last bar", "slide bar" "mud bar"... you get the idea). As you float down the river, if you see something you like, a local will throw you something (rope/tube/water bottle attached to a string) and reel you into the shore. Every bar offers a free whisky shot, really cheap and cold local beer called Beerlao, and usually some other gimmick. These include rope swings, zip lines, mud pits, slides, etc! We linked up with a group consisting of an English couple, a Canadian couple, and a random German dude, and floated and drank the day away with them. The only real effort coming at the very end of the trip as we sprinted through town to return our tubes by 6pm (we got there at 5:58!) so we didn't lose our deposits! We had dinner with the group afterwards... a really really fun day, from what we can remember...


Today was another lazy day in the town, and I continued my grueling "massage tour of Asia" by getting a traditional Laos massage (for $3). It was kind of like a Thai massage, but with less forced yoga, and I had to wear these funny pants to keep with the Laos modesty! A very nice massage, especially since my entire upper body is sore from the swinging and jumping from the river!