Laos Part 2

So if you read the last entry, you'll see that we made it to Laos.  We began our trip in the capital city, Vientiane.  We only had one day here before we began our track through Laos.  We did manage to see Pha That Luang. "It is a symbol of both the Buddhist religion and Lao sovereignty."  It was beautiful, but I think the children provided more of an attraction to the tourists than the actual site.

 I believe here we had Emma and Phoebe posing.

This lady did not want to let Greta get by here.  She was held and had her cheeks pinched by so many people, but she handled it pretty well.

The girls had a good time running around the lawn

It was so bright out that we all had to buy sunglasses.  After visiting Pha That Luang we at some dinner and called it a night.

The next day was a very long day on the road.  We rented a van and a driver, who although claimed he could speak English... could not.  I think he could say "hello" and understand the phrase "please return at..." and we would like to go...."  That's about it.  We were not on the road for one hour when we were pulled over by the police.  Our poor driver had to attempt to talk his way out of us going back to Vientiane. 

After about 30 minutes of sitting here we decided to bring out the big guns.  The police were very stern and strict, but then we whipped out Mattie and Emma under the guise of a toilet break.  The police began to soften.  Although we noticed a kink in the armor, we still were not free to go. Left with no other choice we brought out Phoebe and our ace in the hole...Greta.  By the end of it the police were holding the kids and laughing, and although the driver did get a ticket, we had blessings to continue our journey.  Kids are great. 

We saw so many things on our trip just alongside the road that were so amazing.  We will try and put photos of some of the more interesting things, but Laos is such a beautiful country that our photos will not do it justice.

We did stop at a market on our way to Vang Vieng, which was our half way point to see the Plain of Jars.  This market was supposed to have items like monkey heads and such, but I guess they were fresh out that day.  We did see a lovely pig head and some snakes though. 
                                                                                                        

  I believe this was an eel of some kind.                                                             

                                                                          YUMMY!!!!

 

This lady was really not that interested in selling her wares. I wonder what she would have done if we had woken her up?  We would have had to throw Greta at her so she wouldn't get angry at us.















                          
                                                        

Notice the hammer and sickle in this picture.  It was especially weird for mom and dad to see these flags hanging everywhere.  

This is just one of many beautiful landscape photos.

After a long day of driving, we ended up in Vang Vieng.  This is a backpacker's paradise where the young folks come to float the river and ride the rapids.  They then return to town, eat, drink and be very merry watching "Friend's" re-runs in all the restaurants.  We didn't float the river, but we did hike up to see a very beautiful cave.

The girls had a great time running through the cave.  I wish I could say more about it, but a cave is a cave whether you are in Laos or Tennessee!

After our cave hike, we headed to dinner then back to the hotel.  This sign was posted on every door.  These are some very strict rules.  It was very difficult for dad to comply with some of them.  I did notice that only some weapons were not allowed.  Does this mean that some are?  We didn't know any outer-people so no worries there.  Number 7 is just funny and slightly disturbing, and the fact that they needed to include number 8 is hilarious.  Do some people go into the hotel room and try and redecorate?  Why would anyone do this?  It is not only in the room but on the guesthouse itself!   Hmmmm?!?  We did read something about the milkshakes in Vang Vieng being "happy" milkshakes.  Much in the same vein of "happy" brownies.  This might explain a lot.  Read on and enjoy

This concludes the Laos Part 2 - Vang Vieng.  I will write more later, but I've found if I do this in smaller bursts it works better.  Besides, most of you know Amy Foster, and Shawn just called and said they are on their way home from the airport!  Yae!  

Goodbye for now!