THANKSGIVING

Nick and I left Laos a little over a week ago, and after a brief stop in Bangkok we took off for the islands! We were joined by Nick's sister Zany, and our friends Timothy, Miki, Debbie, and Davis. The seven of us have been having a wonderful time together. I may not have been able to make it home for Thanksgiving this year, but I was lucky enough to be able to spend it with some of my closest friends. And for that I am extremely thankful...

KUOANG SI WATERFALL

There are some amazing waterfalls in the mountains surrounding Luang Prabang. They are great places to hang out, with turquoise blue swimming holes and trails that follow the rivers up and down the mountains. I spent a number of days relaxing by the waterfalls, reading my book, splashing around in the water with my friends, and just enjoying life...

LAO-LICIOUS!

We found a great guesthouse in Luang Prabang thanks to a recommendation from our old traveling buddy Jesse, and it ended up being a big reason why our two days in Luang Prabang turned into ten. It's run by a wonderful family, a husband and wife and their three daughters, and is located in an out-of-the-way alley a stones throw from the Mekong. We met Mathieu there on our second night, and the next day we met Julie, Delphine, and Allan. Great friends. They are the other reason why our stay was prolonged.

Two of the daughters who run the guesthouse offer a cooking class called Lao-Licious! Nick and Mathieu and I decided to sign up for it and holy shit was it awesome! The class started with a trip to the morning market where we purchased our ingredients and got a little lesson on what's what. After that we went back to the guesthouse where we spent the rest of the morning preparing the feast! We cooked four dishes, not including the sticky rice, which is a staple in Laos for every meal. The picture on the bottom left is Moak, a mixture of beef, pork, egg, and other tasty stuff, all mixed together, wrapped up, and steamed in banana leaves. It was quite tasty! The picture above that is Laos Salad, a fresh mix of greens with an egg yolk based salad dressing. Pictured on the top left are the fried spring rolls that we dipped into a homemade peanut sauce, mmm! And to the right of that is Laap, the national dish of Laos. That was my favorite! A spicy beef salad flavored with ginger, garlic, and lemon grass, it was amazing! The feast was extremely delicious, and the whole experience was wonderful. I will never forget that meal as long as I live...

SUNSET ON THE MEKONG

One of the reasons Nick and I have been stuck in Luang Prabang for longer than we had originally planned is because we've made some wonderful new friends here. They are all French, and we all get along quite well - Mathieu, Alan, Delphine, and Julie. We've been doing a lot of fun things together, biking to waterfalls, exploring the night market, sharing beers. Last night we went to see a Lao dance performance at the theater, it was great. Every night we try and find a good place to watch the sunset, there are tons of great spots along the river. I really like it here...

FRENCH COLONIAL TOWN

The French colonial architecture in the old part of town adds an interesting twist to Luang Prabang. Many of the old mansions that line the river have been restored and converted into guesthouses and hotels, it's quite charming...

LUANG PRABANG

Nick and I put in a long day after we left Phou Khoun, riding nearly 130 kilometers all the way to Luang Prabang. Holy shit was it tiring. We conquered some pretty big mountains though - had some grueling climbs and some crazy descents, and didn't roll into town till after the sun had already gone down.

Luang Prabang is an amazing old French colonial river town. The Khan River runs parallel to the Mekong for a little ways before it hooks around and joins in, and the old part of town sits on the thin strip of land in between the two rivers. It's a wonderful town. Nick and I came here thinking we'd leave after a couple of days, that was about a week ago...

KASI TO PHOU KHOUN

The first leg of our bike trip took us from Vang Vieng to Kasi. It was a great first day, and was rather flat compared to the next few legs of our adventure. The following day we took off for Phou Khoun, a little village up in the mountains. And let me tell you, those climbs were not easy on a bike with one speed...

OUR NEW BIKES

Nick and I had originally planned on exploring Laos on motorbikes, but unfortunately it ended up being a little too expensive. But that didn't stop us! We left Vang Vieng after a few days and headed north towards Luang Prabang, still riding on two wheels, but this time with no motors...

BIKING VANG VIENG

Nick and Jesse and I rented some mountain bikes for a day and went out to explore the countryside around Vang Vieng. It was awesome...

AN OLD FRIEND

As soon as we got off the bus in Vang Vieng we bumped into our old friend Jesse who we met in northern Thailand. It was great to see him, we hung out together for a few days before he took off for China...

VANG VIENG

Nick and I stayed in Vang Vieng for a good four or five days in a little bungalow on the bank of the Song River. Vang Vieng is a hugely popular destination on the backpackers road through southeast Asia - it's biggest draw being the debauchery that goes on along the Song River during the day. Just north of town is a stretch of the river lined with bars, some sit up on the river bank while others are built out on decks over the water. Rope swings, zip lines, and water slides are a part of every stop, along with mud pits, mud volleyball, and a lot of loud music. People rent tubes and float from bar to bar, partying, dancing, and swimming along until they wind up back in town at the end of the day all drunk and muddy. It's the ultimate backpackers water park. It's pretty crazy... and actually really obnoxious compared to the charming and quiet countryside that surrounds it. Nick and I checked it out, you kind of have to if you visit Vang Vieng, but one day was enough for us. The rest of the time we spent exploring the surrounding countryside, it was beautiful. The picture in the upper left is looking across the river towards our bungalow, you can barely see it hiding in the cluster of trees along the river. The picture on the right was taken in a village outside of Vang Vieng, sometimes the surrounding mountains didn't even look real...

DINNER ON THE MEKONG

Nick and I had a tasty dinner at a little place along the river in Vientiane, here's a little video I made about it.

VIENTIANE

Last week Nick and I took an overnight bus from Bangkok up north to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We crossed the border just after sunrise and had the whole day to explore the city. Vientiane is pretty small, and it's very walkable. Nick and I hiked the city all day and finished things off with a stroll along the Mekong River as the sun was going down. The next day we took a bus farther up north up to Vang Vieng...