Anyway, Vang Viang was fun! Our trip there went longer than usual and was super dusty, but we made it. When we got there, we had lunch, checked into our hotel, and then went tubing down the river. Vang Viang is kind of the college (or college wannabe's) stop in Laos. Basically, everyone goes tubing down the river to stop at the all the bars and get drunk. So for the first part, we had to dodge a few water bottles tied to strings being thrown at us for us to grab on to so they could tow us to shore and drink with them. But once we got past all that, it was nice & relaxing. Christa & I played Would You Rather for a while. Which by the way, did you all know that Christa once kissed a baboon's backside? True story. She'll tell you it isn't, but don't believe her.
After tubing, we showered, and then went for mango sticky rice. Then we didn't really have anything else to do, so why not get another massage? :] Then we had a later supper of yumma Hawaiian pizza and pretty early to bed again. The next morning we had Lao tea at a cute little restaurant and then one of Christa's students picked us up to go to her house in a nearby village maybe 10 minutes away. They were very happy to have us there and were very hospitable and generous. We also got to walk down by river with the student and her mom. We left their house around 11:30 and had about an hour to spare before our bus left, so we went to another restaurant for mint lemon drinks and worked on perfecting our Lao nyims. (smiles) Here are the results:
So believe it or not, Christa & I actually stayed up with Heather to welcome in the New Year. It wasn't anything too exciting, but for usually going to bed before 10 so far on this trip, I felt pretty accomplished. :] This morning, we skyped our parents who were still stuck in 2011. Then we made pancakes and left by 10:30 for the airport to pick up Kirsten. From there, we headed to their hotel and then did a little sightseeing of nearby temples. Then we got some authentic Lao food before heading back to the hotel for coffee at 3--it made it feel like a real Geels get-together. :]
We went to the foreigner's church at 4:30 and out for supper at a Turkish restaurant after with some of Christa's friends from church. Heather & Kirsten have a tradition of eating ice cream every day that they are traveling, so after some major convincing on their part, Christa & I finally obliged to this. The ice cream places were all closed for New Year's but we found a place to get some ice cream bars, and then headed back. Now time for bed! :]
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