If you want something, then go for it!
Take action without fear.
I got that from Naruto. :-) It's one of my favorite quotes. It's so motivational. :-)
I want Laos; I want my dreams to come true; and I will work hard to reach my dream. :-)
Pictures from Vang Vieng.
Kris and I went to the backpacker haven of Vang Vieng to go on the "Secret Eden" trek recommended by Lonely Planet.
We came, we saw, but we failed to conquer. Kris and I felt like dying (literally. My vision was purple and I couldn't hear whatever the hell our trekking guide was saying to me. Kris, in the meantime, felt like letting everything out) halfway up the first mountain (an unprecedented experience. Kris is an athlete, and I'm relatively fit. Plus, I'm a good mountain climber - according to members of the UP Mountaineers themselves, hehe.), and by the time we reached the top, we were positive we wouldn't be able to make it up the second peak alive. We decided our lives were more important than any secret eden, and so decided to head back to the bamboo lodge we were to spend the night in. The return trek took hours all the same, and Kris and I really felt like shit by the time we reached the river in front of the bamboo lodge. We swam across, and the current almost floated me downstream. It was great - the most refreshing swim of my life. Kris and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the middle of the river, among bathing Lao children who were throwing river weed patties at each other. Then dinner (and whisky) came, and it was one of the best meals ever. And we learned how to tagay Lao style. (SUKDI!!!!!!)
The next day, Kris and I spent seven hours kayaking the Nam Song river. We padelled all the way back to Vang Vieng, past groups of drunk caucasian tubers. We joined the tubers for a while, when we took a break at one of the tubing stops set up along the river. We were welcomed with a free shot of LaoLao, which we drank from a shot glass that could use a good washing. :p It was at that stop that Kris and I trapeze-launched ourselves into the middle of the river. This American girl couldn't believe that I was still nervous before trapezing for the first time, since she saw (from my shirt) that I'd done the world's highest skyjump. Still. I'm always nervous. It doesn't go away. But I still do it. :-) The trapeze operator wanted to marry Kris ("sexy girl!"). But Kris pointed at the woman selling Beer Lao by the trapeze tower and said, "Isn't that your wife?". The woman turned out to be his mother. Tsk tsk, Kris. hehe. :-)
We were way past the point of being sick of paddling by the time we arrived at Vang Vieng. We then walked all the way from the Green Discovery Adventure Tours (the company that has the Secret Eden trek) to our guesthouse. We looked like two tired, drowned rats. :-) It was great. :-)
The view from our veranda at the Vang Vieng Orchid Guesthouse:
Motorcycles cross this bridge. Promise:
Spell rural:
Chicken noodle soup at Nokeo:
street in the middle of town:
Lao girls have perfected the art of balancing:
temple:
limestone peaks around Vang Vieng (taken during the Secret Eden trek):
Kris mid-trek (at the point na nakaka-picture pa kami. hehe):
view:
argh:
we had lunch in a cave:
pathway:
in our lunch cave:
Kris looking at cobwebby things on the cave walls:
we walked in the searing heat to the bamboo lodge:
Kris at the end of the road (it ends at the Nam Song river!)
The lodge and the river:
The path we'd just walked:
VEE!
happy kids:
Kris and I both patched up our feet at the lodge:
PAGOD
but yeah, the view from the lodge was awesome :-)
All I see is green:
door to our lodge:
the room was hot but Kris liked the mosquito net:
I hung my shorts up to dry:
We kayaked down this river:
we wandered around while pornstar was making lunch and we found this happy tree:
meeeeee:
Kwis is floating:
ang galing mo talaga sa sports, pare:
reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
whee?
still waiting for our food:
pornstar splashed me!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE:
kayaks and butterflies:
still the river:
Kris by the river:
still exploring pre-lunch (pornstar: "Don't go too far!!!")
pretty:
my roots are also here:
braided:
life:
our lunch (we also had fried rice):
on the bus back to Vientiane:
