Vang Vieng

Hello my dear sheep

There's a lot to tell again, so make yourself comfortable.

The last two weeks of our world trip we spent in Vang Vieng. Our train ride there took only 2 hours, which seemed like a joke compared to our other travel times. The train route here in Laos was built by the Chinese, so the security check was very strict. Julian had to leave his beloved Swiss army knife behind, which still hurts him to this day. When we arrived in Vang Vieng, we took a taxi to the vicinity of our first accommodation. We had to walk a little way over a rickety, old wooden bridge before we reached our hostel, where it felt like 50 degrees and there was no air conditioning (Now I can already hear Dad again with his "ohhh mimimimimi"), but with an outside temperature of 43 degrees, it's hard to bear the room without air conditioning. Fortunately, there was a heavy thunderstorm that same evening, which caused a power outage, so the shower didn't work and Julia had to shower in the rain, but at least our room cooled down a bit. The next few days we spent exploring the area and moving to a hostel with air conditioning. Vang Vieng is a great place for backpackers who want to experience as much as possible all at once. You can go kayaking, hot air ballooning, hiking, swimming, partying and so much more there. We used our time in Vang Vieng to rest and stay in one place for a longer time. The past few weeks had taken a toll on us due to the fast pace of traveling, so we really enjoyed the time of simple existence. We made trips to the Blue Lagoons, of which there are six in total here. In doing so, I hit a small hole in my shin because we jumped from a tower and the water was shallower than we thought. Nevertheless, we jumped two more times, haha.

We experienced the New Year festival in Laos, which was celebrated with a huge water fight throughout the city for several days. All day long (especially in the evenings), people stood on the side of the road with water guns, water barrels, and garden hoses and soaked everyone and everything that crossed their path. We had a blast joining in with the people and drenching the passing scooters and pedestrians with water. That's how we should celebrate a festival in Germany. It was madness. Unfortunately, my phone broke during the water fight, and I had to take it for repairs. 🙄 Who brings a phone to a water fight? 🤦🏼‍♀️

We also did a tubing tour, where we were given old truck tubes to float down the river. There was always a stop at a bar to consume some alcohol. We were traveling in a larger group, and so we made some wonderful acquaintances whom we hopefully will see again in our lifetime. With our feet hooked onto the other tubes, we floated down the river like a little drunk island and had the time of our lives. Every now and then, we lost one or the other, and in the end, it was Julian whom I completely lost. He got off with some others at a foam party, while I waited at the actual exit point. Since I had his phone and wallet in my bag, he couldn't get very far. I made plans with some of the others at our favorite bar, eventually gave up waiting, and walked with two others towards the town. Since I've been with Julian for some time now, I know some of his behavioral patterns and assumed that he would eventually end up at the bar where we had been hanging out for the past few days. Plus, I didn't want to wait at the hostel. After a quick shower at the hostel, I met up with the others from tubing and joined them. A few hours later, Julian showed up (as expected), as he also assumed that I would be at the bar. 😂 It's amazing how well you get to know each other eventually.

On one of our last days, we also went on a small, unplanned hike to our viewpoint. We have probably never sweated as much in our whole lives as we did during this ascent. On top of that, we were of course excellently prepared for a mountain hike with our flip-flops. But soaking wet and exhausted, we finally reached the viewpoint and enjoyed the view. Unfortunately, Laos is currently in the burning season, so everything is covered in a smoky haze and the views are less impressive than they would actually be. That was also a reason why we decided against the hot air balloon ride. We don't see the point in paying a lot of money for something that you can hardly see in the end. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Next, we will fly back to Thailand, which we are both looking forward to very much. Let's see what awaits us there.

Until then.

ລາວຍັງຄ່າຍັງ🐑