Vientiane and Vang Vieng

A couple of days ago now, we flew from Hanoi, Vietnam to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. In short, we saw some beautiful temples and had a wonderful body scrub treatment for cheap cheap. That night we had a great meal at a really interesting restaurant. It is called mak pet and is an initiative where they take kids who are living in poverty or who have suffered from trauma like a land bomb. There they are trained in cooking and serving and are given a chance to earn a living and develop skills. They also make fabric items that are sold and the
money goes toward the program. It was a really nice evening.

The next morning we headed to the main and most important temple but it was raining buckets and so we took a tuk tuk. After that we had some lunch before hopping on a bus towards our next destination, Vang Vieng.

When we arrived, we checked in to or sweet bungalows for 2 nights before heading out to watch the sunset and have some drinks. A fabulous dinner and great conversation rounded out the night.

Today we went on an incredible 7 hour trek just outside town. We had a private tour for 3 of us girls with a guide. We did this crazy hiking up a mountain and it was a slippery and climbing up hill on the rocks and over this low part in the mountains. Then we went thru this field were a family was living in the valley between the ridges. There we saw cow dung that had a magic mushroom growing in it. After that we did some more trekking up and down and over and under and around till we got to this beautiful waterfall in the middle of the mountains. The water was so clear and crisp and refreshing. It was amazing and picturesque. There our guide made us BBQ skewers and fried rice. It was gourmet and delicious. Then we headed back the way we came till we came to the home in the valley and from there we went a different route towards the caves. They were massive and awe-inspiring. We climbed down crazy bamboo ladders into the caves and then started to make our way thru lead by our guide and each of our bamboo torches. It was pitch black without the help of our torches. As we approached the other end a sliver of blue sky accompanied by birds chirping welcomed us out of the darkness. It was completely surreal. After some additional trekking through farms and fields where we got to see wild pineapple plants and traditional Lao stilt houses, we approached a bridge over a river that seemed too crazy to cross. Literally just a stick above and a stick below, our guide showed us how it's done and we followed along behind. Little did we know that this was just a warm up. Next and last of our 7 hour trek was the monkey bridge. This precarious contraption suspended above a brown river had gaps in it and leaned heavily to the left. It is by far one of the most insane things I have ever done in my entire life! Thus concluded our day. Happy, tired and a little bit sunburnt, we're back at our bungalows where we'll be for 1 more night before heading to our next stop, Luang Probang.