Day 7, Saturday – Vang Vieng

This morning we took a trip away from the city into the country to see the village of Vang Vieng. It has actually become quite the tourist spot in recent years with areas for tubing, kayaking, zip-lining and more but the drive there led us through some really eye opening areas. The whole adventure started this morning when our tour guide, Yealabanh picked us up with his driver from our hotel. Yealabanh was a fascinating person and awed us with his English. It seemed he had a new fact for us every other minute, whether it be about the city, the country, the culture or his personal life. The first stop he took us to was a Hmong market. He led us through a pointed out some things that seemed peculiar to us like eels that jumped out of their bowls and walked across the ground, frogs that had been caught in the fields to eat, and different roots used for medicinal treatments. Even the items we were used to such as fish and other meats were a little frightening because of the amount of flies and dirt. Next we stopped at a mountainous spot that had Buddha statues carved into the rocks. We got to see a Cambodian version and a Lao version. After, we went to a Fish market. After a very hot bumpy car ride, it was not an ideal place to be. The smell itself was not the least bit appetizing but the sights were even more shocking. There were fish hanging in bundles that had been dried, bones and eyes still intact and water buffalo skins formed into something similar to jerky. Yealabanh said it tasted good but we didn’t have a try. Our trip at the market ended early though when Jessie’s fear of snakes prevented the group from traveling through an aisle. There was quite a large lizard, over 5 kilos about four feet long tied against a wall. From afar (though not far enough in Jessie’s opinion), the creature resembled one of those awful reptiles because it had similar skin. Yealabanh was very understanding though and even bought Jessie a chocolate soy milk drink to make it okay. The last stop was to Thanh Chang, a cave in Vang Vieng. The hike to the opening was literally breathtaking, but the sights once inside were figuratively so, making it worthwhile. The cave had pathways through it opening up to views of the countryside and within was just as beautiful, comprised of intricate limestone structures. One of the most interesting parts of the trip though was being able to view the lifestyle outside of the city. There were homes that were nothing more than bamboo and many children could be seen running around unclothed. We were also surprised at the cows that grazed along the road. They were not alarmed by the speeding cars and motorbikes and frequently crossed into the road. Those cows were quite brave, the driving here is chaotic to say the least. At points we had to clench our teeth. It seems they believe there is always room for one more lane and to pass through traffic.