We got back to Hanoi, did some blogging and hopped on a 24-hr bus to Vientiane, Laos. The shuttle to the bus picked us up at our hostel. Other passengers of the shuttle held us up a half hour raising concerns of not getting seats on the bus - it's a local bus. Not to worry, it seems they wanted to ensure we'd make the bus in time and got us there 2 hours before departure. Looking to make the best of the situation we decided to kill some time tossing a disc in the bus station parking lot. We were told this was not allowed and that boredom was the only acceptable behaviour.
Continuing to stress excessive punctuation, we arrived at the Vietnam/Laos border 2 hours prior to opening. It opened. We crossed. The bus failed inspection due to leaking oil. A hefty bribe was negotiated. Apparently bribes are a negotiable transaction here.
We hit Vientiane, stayed the night and moved on to Vang Vieng. We set up shop at RiverSide Bungalows. T rented a bike and got into the spirit of the town..
The thing to do in Vang Vieng is tubing, down a river, surrounded by mountains, lined with bars, each sporting a rope swing, zip-line or other device to propel yourself into the water. that's how you support tourism.
After hitting the sauce for 2 nights and a day we took a breather on the second day. what to do? more frolf? more frolf.
having recouped it was back to the river.
one of the funny things to watch is people trying to manoeuvre themselves in their tubes over to the first bar. this is sometimes less than graceful.
more tubin
being a traveller hub it only made sense we should run into someone, that's Hannah from our Acacia tour.
Between my overly flexed skeletal right arm and T squeezing his breath I think it's clear we've been keeping in shape.
alcohol and high speed swinging on home-made contraptions. don't worry it was all supervised.
Paul making friends...
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