Same, Same....But Different!

Hello from Laos! Jeremiah and I are in Vang Viene right now, and are trying our best to keep dry! This city is well known on the backpacker circuit as being the best place to go tubing down the local river, and is pretty overrun with tourists! We have spent more time watching our fellow travelers than we have enjoying the Lao culture. It's not all that bad though, just a little bit of a shock . The Lao people have tried their best to determine what Westerners like and provide it for us, and the result are bunches of "TV Bars" which are basically a replica of a typical living room, complete with rows of couches with coffee tables set up in front of huge TVs that play a rotation of Friends, Family Guy, and classic movies. They bring you a beer and some french fries and you are set... It's really weird to see from the outside, a whole restaurant full of people just glued to the TV, but I can understand the appeal, after being on the road for awhile and not seeing any TV a little vegging out would start to sound nice to anybody. It's still a typical town though, with goats and chickens all over and people going about their daily business, just with an odd twist. It makes me wonder what the Lao people must think of Western travelers though...

We were hoping to rent motorbikes here so we could get out and see some of the country, (we had a blast on these in Chaing Mai) but so far each Laos city has outlawed the rental of bikes to tourists because they don't have the medical facilities to treat anyone with a major injury or sickness here, and it would be bad for tourism if someone got sick or died. It's something we have had to keep in mind the whole trip, there is no 911 to call and with the exception of the big cities there are no ambulances. Luckily the huge medical kit I have been carrying around hasn't been necessary (except for some Imodium and antibiotics).

Last night we celebrated our first major holiday out of the US- Halloween! Because we are in a party town I was pretty sure that we would find a costume celebration, so Jer and I set out to dress up. This was a little trickier than anticipated because we are both carrying the absolute minimum in clothing and there is nowhere to buy costume supplies around here. We took a hard look at our options and decided to take the easy way out- PIRATES! All we had to do we wear our normal clothing (hippie wrap-around shorts, random t-shirt, sandals, and a bandana on our heads!). Jeremiah also wore his compass to make it all more authentic. :) We went to the "Bucket Bar" and it was a huge party. You can actually buy a plastic pail filled with Lao-Lao (rice whiskey) and 7-Up. I stuck to beer and we had a fun night meeting other travelers and dancing to American music.

Today we wanted to give river tubing a try (this town is famous for it) but so far we have been prevented by the rain. Hopefully it will clear up soon!