Lao Lao

About a week ago, we flew on Lao airlines (not for the faint of heart) from Pakse to the capital of Laos- Vientian. Vientian is an interesting place. For a capital, there is not much to do. We rented bikes and were able to see everything in a day. The highlight would be this beautiful temple all painted in gold, which was amazing (pics to follow tomorrow). The other great thing about Vientian is the availability of good food. We went to a French restaurant and each had steak au poivre with french fries and 2 carafs of really good red wine all for about $35. We then took a bus (I tell you all travel within Laos is trying) to Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is a backpacker's mecca - although some aspects more pleasant than others. We avoided all "Friend's TV bars" which is exactly how it sounds. Backapackers sitting comatose watching "Friends" blaring from several TVs. Strange. What we did really enjoy was the tubing which has been dubbed "a Lao phenomenon". Basically you rent a tube and a dry bag "to keep your stuff dry", and are taken via tuk tuk 3 km up the road. You start tubing down the Nam Song and after about 1 mintue you reach the first bar. This scene is rediculous. Hundreds of people crowded on small decks drinking (buckets of whisky and such were available, but we stuck with our beerlao and the occasional shot of Lao Lao [Lao rice whisky] that people were giving out for free). There are multiple bars along the way which are only a few minutes apart. The point, as we learnt very quickly, was not the actual tubing, but the drinking. There were swings that dropped you in the water from 30 feet up, and then there was the most crazy slide I have ever been on! Let's put it this way - you would never be able to have a slide in N America like this. It was so much fun that even though I hurt myself the first time, I had to do it again. Gene also tried a zip line which was great too. We had heard so much about this place, and it far exceeded our expectations. Unfortunatley, I will not have pics to post of this because I brought an underwater camera. Good thing too....at the end we started to swim in our tube and when I exited I noticed the bag seemed a lot heavier. I emptied the contents and a ton of water came pouring out. The next day we visited some caves and some very scenic lagoons that you can swim in. Overall, we really enjoyed Vang Vieng. We arrived this evening in Luang Prabang.