Vientiane

I have reappeared, ensconced in a nice hotel with air-con and wifi a block from the Mekong in the Capitol of Laos
I left Luang Prabang in a minivan bound for Kasi, the closest stop to where I really wanted to go. After the Chaos-Lao of waiting, tuk-tuk, then waiting and of course nothing leaves until it is chock full.

                                          The Vomit Van, which never moves until its full.

Having scored a front seat next to the driver, I was feeling blessed, even a little smug. We wiggled through the incredibly mountainous country side on the snake of Rte 13 until there were cries from the back and one if the Euro girls had to stop to be sick.
Once settled, the driver asked me to sit in the
Oddly jump seat so the Euro girl could sit up front as well and hopefully feel better. I spent the rest of the ride there but if I had to have someone squashed against me m, at least she was very cute.
I was listening to tunes and completely enjoying the ride, a feeling not universally shared. When I convinced the incredulous driver that yes, I really did want to stop here, in the middle of nowhere, several people bailed out after me and great vomitting began while the driver got my bag I waved and walked off into the most unbelievable landscape of huge shear limestone peaks,many with vertical faces of a thousand feet or more.

I had stopped outside a tiny village at a place called Bor Nam resort which in SE Asia means any guesthouse that is not on town. And this one damn sure wasn't.
I walked a km each way to make sure it was the right place. It was the only place. There was a Tony hamlet to the North and nothing to the south but mountains.
The place was two crazy restaurants and six bungalows teetering on the hill over a big hot springs where the long haul truckers on route 13 stop for a bath.

Not another falang for miles. The obligatory shower in the insane little $8 bungalow and I was put hiking. Down through the village where a falang on foot caused quite a stir. After "sa-bai di-ing" everyone on the village and all the children twice, I headed up into the hills above the village on local trails, no guides, no maps, just wandering in the Laos hills.

There is more, and I will post it. How amazing the Lao people are, how everything works out, how I seriously mixed with the locals crossing south to Vientiane, but I haven't eaten and the streets call.
Be well.
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