Last Week in Laos (Week 8)

Still high from our recent engagement, we left Luang Prabang with smiles and headed south to the town of Vang Vieng. The minivan ride felt more like a roller coaster than a drive but we arrived safely to our resort. Corbin had surprised Tatum by booking a fancy resort for a couple nights and to our surprise we had the whole place to ourselves. Over the next two days we relaxed by the ‘private’ pool and shared our news with family and friends. 

We re-located to our more budget friendly guesthouse and spent the rest of the week exploring. Vang Vieng is an outdoor paradise with lots of hiking trails, waterfalls, and lagoons. On two separate days we spent the mornings hiking to viewpoints and the afternoons cooling off in Blue Lagoons. The hikes were steep and challenging but the views of the valley were well worth the effort. 

The motorbike ride between destinations was bumpy, dusty, and full of local entertainment; we had a blast dodging herds of cows, massive pigs, chickens, and goats. 

St. Paddy’s day snuck up on us but not to worry. We sniffed out a local Irish pub and met up with a few friends to celebrate. We spent the evening singing Irish songs, playing pool and watching soccer. We have decided that every good American travel duo needs Canadian sidekicks. On St. Patties day... we met ours; Candace and Mike.

The next morning we met up with the Canadians and the four of us set off to float the river in inner tubes. And boy... did we have an adventure. We floated through the valley, admiring the limestone mountains, stopping occasionally at local bars along the riverbank where we played drinking games, danced, and met other travelers. 

Times flies when your having fun. What we assumed would be a 4-5 hour float ended up taking roughly 7 hours. Around 530pm we realized that we were not going to make it back to town before it got dark. So... we had two options. Float in the dark or get off the water and hail down a taxi. Against the girls better judgement, we all decided to keep floating. After about 30 minutes of floating in the dark, while ricocheting off rocks, we made it to our take out location safe and sound. 

We ended our time in Laos by spending a quick night in the capital, Vientiane. We loved slowing down in Laos. And its a good thing... we have heard that Vietnam is very much the opposite. Ready or not, here we come!

With Love,

Boots Abroad

Corbin’s

Highs: Floating (though I got in trouble because I wanted to keep floating in the dark). The viewpoints. 

Lows: Almost flying out of my seat in the van. Getting in trouble for wanting to float at night.  

Tatum’s

Highs: Sharing our news with family & friends, hikes, floating

Lows: Losing my sunglasses when my inner tube capsized, our friend wrecking on his motorbike (not to worry... he’s ok)