twenty-four

after one lazy day wandering around Luang Prabang, i decided to sign up for some of the activities offered through the SpicyLaos guesthouse. after three days, a low, wide waterfall, a narrow, tall waterfall, a birthday party, and a few rounds of bowling later, i was signed up for a bus trip with 24 other backpackers to Vang Vieng.

the cast of characters is a little long. the list of reoccurring faces includes (but is not limited to):

Jimmy and Kelly - fellow backpackers that have been working at SpicyLoas since it opened a few months ago. if we were a team, they would be our leaders. both of them eternally have smiles on their faces and are the best informal tour guides... ever.

Adam and Mani - a pair of friends from the UK. Mani is traveling for five weeks, Adam for a year. Adam is the spitting image of my roommate Geoff so much so that if i walk into a room Adam is in, or see him walking down the street, i have to catch myself from running over and asking what he's doing in Laos.

Brice - 25-year-old graphic designer from San Francisco. amazing hair. one of the nicest, funniest, easiest people to travel with that i've met on this whole adventure.

Thea - 19-year-old student from the UK. a little bad-ass. totally hysterical. gorgeous in the i'd-have-to-hate-you-if-you-weren't-such-an-amazing-person kind of way.

the guys - four guys from the UK. i never have found out all of their names, but as a collective unit, they are an absolute riot and no one ever refers to them individually anyway. it's always, where are the guys? has anyone seen the guys this morning? which one of the guys drank too much last night?

Pong - the owner of SpicyLoas. we added him to the group when we arrived in Vang Vieng.

on Monday morning, all 24 of us piled into three mini-vans and headed up into the hills of Laos for a six-hour journey to Vang Vieng. if we'd been able to travel as the crow flies, it probably would have only taken an hour or so to get to Vang Vieng, but we wove in and out of the mountains, down into valleys and back up into and around the hills. it made for a slightly green hue in some people's faces, but the scenery was absolutely worth it: stunning in every way. we had amazing weather, and the sky was clear enough that Jimmy said they could see twice as far as they had been able to in previous trips.

when we got to Vang Vieng, Jimmy had the vans drop us all off at a guesthouse where Pong was staying. they didn't have room for all 24 of us, but Jimmy, Kelly, Adam, Mani, Brice, and i ended up i a big, en suite room with three queen beds. after a group dinner, we all went to bed early in preparation for the next day.

a word about Vang Vieng. the town itself is extremely small with one main road and two intersections. it's located in a beautiful part of the country with limestone cliffs rising up out of the Nam Song river on one side and a seemingly endless span of green hills stretching out into the distance on the other. for whatever reason, Vang Vieng has been designated a backpacker mecca. activity of choice: floating down the Nam Song river in a tractor tire and stopping at river-side bar/restaurants, to drink Lao Lao, eat larp, and test your monkey skills by grabbing a rope-swing and hurling yourself through the air off seven-meter platforms before dropping into the Nam Song. stopping in Vang Vieng has been described as a right of passage in SE Asia though it is generally agreed that it's best if you're traveling with a good group of people. i figured with 24, i couldn't go wrong.

Tuesday morning, we all met for breakfast, walked across the street to rent tubes, hopped into a few tuk tuks, and headed down to the river. six hours, five river-swings, two platform jumps, a zip line, and countless bumps and bruises later, we arrived back in town, muddy, exhausted, and ready to do it again the next day, which, despite the persistent rain, we did.

we've all spent the day today lounging around one of Vang Vieng's restuarant/bars, watching Friends (every restaurant here plays an endless, high-volume stream of Friend's episodes), eating baguettes (thank you, France) and drinking fruit shakes. i can't really remember the last time so many different parts of my body hurt. between running into underwater trees, mud-wrestling, swinging like a monkey into the river, slipping and sliding all over the river-side huts, and attacking each other's tubes (and persons) at every available opportunity, every muscle in my body is sore and most bits of me are covered in bruises of one shape or another, but all of it was worth it, and if i could lift my arms over my head, or sneeze without my stomach muscles spasming, i'd totally do it again tomorrow.

over the last few days, various individuals and groups have slowly peeled off the original 24, so we're down to about 12 now. tomorrow, most of us are getting on a bus to Vientiane, Laos' capital, before everyone really starts splitting off in separate directions. Brice and i are both flying out of Bangkok on Monday and will probably stick together until then, but i will most likely have to say goodbye to everyone else Saturday night. it's been absolutely amazing traveling with such a large group. it's like having a a transportable community and it's been wonderful to have spent only a day or so asking the prerequisite questions (where are you from, where have you been, where are you going, how long are you traveling) and then being able to just sit back, relax, and enjoy everyone's company.