noodle quest 2006

vang vieng increased in okay-ness soon after this entry. jess and i rented bikes and biked out to the organic farm about 5 or 6km from town. we ate some delicious fresh vegetables and mulberry green tea (it is a mulberry farm) and walked around a bit. then we got back on our bikes and went to go to a cave which we got distracted from because we decided to stop at this party place/bar on the river. we just wante dto swim and lie in the sun and there was no clearing anywhere else besides this place which was a riverside bar of sorts for all of the passing people in tubes that are on a floating adventure to jump out at. pretty weird. the river water was super cold but refreshing. then we biked home. later that night i went on a very nice date with chai dan, the thai boy from vientiane. the next day jess went back to the farm and made bricks out of clay and i did some errandy things around town. today we get back on the bikes and try to see some of the caves that vang vieng is known for. tomorrow we will leave and go to luang prabang, laos!
bye bye!

this is vang vieng- but probably a few years ago- all of these places are now outdor lounges with lao/thai/western food

we have been in vang vieng the past 2 or 3 nights and it is a really “chill” place. by this i mean it fits every western ideal of “chill” that could hope to be obtained; outdoor lounges cheap “happy” and western food, teas with mroe than leaves in them (i.e. types of psychadelically charged fungi), tubing day trips, and endless episodes of friends and movies beign played everywhere. however, we are feelign a little bit over it. i mean we are in LAOS for freaks sake but it feels like we could be in any backpacker haven in the world. i woke up yesterday morning to the sounds of jimmy buffet’s “margaritaville” and saw two bare chested brit boys in surf shorts and a slutty girl in booty shorts and a cowboy hat walk down the street with the backdrop of these outrageous jagged mountain cliffs and lao women in traditional floor legnth hand embroidered wrap skirts and a cow that was getting in everyones way. it is really a juxtaposiion that we are at this poin all too familiar with and relatively uninterested in. it feels very hard to stray from the toursit paths in this country (i.e. VIP bus from vientaine to vang vieng to luang prabang and out) and we dn’t know if we are really motivated to try as there are other places we feel more inclined to. we both are really anxious to get working and do some volunteer work- all of this lazy privliged backpacker life has become extremely dull and frustrating. so tomorrow we are going to check out this organic farm outside of vang vieng that we have an opportunity to volunteer at. if we like it, we will stay for a week or two and if we don’t we will bounce to luang prabang for a few days than hit up the ploaces we need to get to faster (i.e. northern thailand for massage school, cambodia for work).
jess is on the phone right now extending our tickets and i am super excited but also nervous as after laos jess and i are going to be parting ways for a while. she is goign to head straight to cambodia i think to work at APCA an ngo and i am going to head to northern thailand to attend a two week thai massage licensing course and explroe chaing mai and chaing rai which HOPEFULLY will not feel as tourist packed and lame as laos has so far….
i am on my last day of strep medas and hopefully i have kicked it from my system…
and the journey goes ooooooooooooon!