Vang Vien, Laos!

I got up bright and early this morning at 6:15am to go to the Thailand-Laos border, with my fellow volunteer, Simon. In order to get to Laos, you have to cross over the Friendship Bridge on a bus (20 baht*). It was a pretty easy process to get the Lao visa. I filled out an application, my departure/arrival card, and submitted those forms with my US passport, $35USD fee, and passport photo, and was ready to go in 15 minutes.

After we passed immigration, we caught a local bus to Vientiane (5,000 kip), where we had to catch another bus to Vang Vien (30,000 kip). Thank goodness Simon had been to Vientiane before, because I was pretty confused about where to go and how much things were. I have to get used to using another currency (that hurts my brain in the beginning :P). But after walking around the bus station and grabbing some last minute snacks, we were off for a 4-hour bus ride.

I love being able to see the rural areas via bus, but this ride was a little bit tough. We had to get through some curvy and bumpy roads. I purposely didn't eat the whole ride, because I felt a little car sick during part of the ride. 4 hours later, we were dropped off on the side of the road, next to an old airplane landing strip, and the Vang Vien town center on the other side of it.

Simon and I checked out a couple of guest houses and then settled on Phouna Guesthouse, one that was a little hidden (there are still loud, obnoxious backpapers here. Darn.) Vang Vien is a very small town, but tons of backpackers come here to go tubing, kayaking, caving, rock climbing, and/or water rafting (I'm sure there are other sports that I am not aware of). Other than that, there's restaurants with "happy" items on the menu. We'll probably try something at one point. There's a row of bars/restuarants where (I swear) every other one was playing "Friends" or "Family Guy". I don't think I saw any other shows on besides those.

We'll be here for only 2 nights, but that will be plenty of time in this town. We're going on a tour tomorrow for hiking, kayaking, caving, and tubing. Let's hope we survive the whole day!

*I thought I would add some more details, if anyone is searching for more info.