I LOVE LAOS!

What a dramatically spectacular last night in Laos! After a bleeding hot and humid day, as the sun was setting, Mother Nature started gusting her winds, bolder with each breath. The rain is pouring down onto the tin roof above me, beyond my protecting mozzie net. I’ve just about packed everything for my 9:30 bus in the morning and am blissfully reflecting on my last few days.

Here in Vang Vieng I’ve formed a little family. They found me my first night when I was having a sundowner at a bar on the river and writing. They were in the booth next to me and started including me in some of their jokes. One of the guys came and sat next to me and said, squinting and pointing his finger at me, “You look like you’re very interesting. I’m tired and going now, but I would like to find out more about you. Do you want to grab a meal with me tomorrow?" I suppose that’s the closest thing as being asked out on a date that I’ve been graced with in a long time. It was super sweet and all I said, smiling, was, “I’m really not that interesting." I thought he was a creepy guy but as I grew to know Steve I found that is just his way of life. He talks to everyone, especially people he’s intrigued by. He’s a weathered Welsh hippie with a heart of gold and more funny stories than the endless Friends episodes that were playing at all the bars.

(Yes - side note, Friends and Family Guy re-runs were being played at every bar and restaurant. And people just lounged around during the hot days watching those shows. Bizarre! Yet I did do it - just one day! - and it was like I had all the comforts of home all the way across the world.)

So Steve became my first friend when we bumped into each other again the next day in town. He was hanging out with 2 other single girl travelers, both also from California. None of them knew each other prior to getting to Laos. Jen and Danielle were such open, happy, amazing women. We all met and clicked and have laughed for hours and hours and just provided a warm environment for each other, where you can be silly and you’re protected.

Aside from a whole hot of hanging out in hammocks with a non-osculating osculating fan we also got out of the town and enjoyed the nature. We rented bikes one day and rode them out to the Blue Lagoon, which was this gorgeous crystal blue natural spring with big, colorful chillin woven straw mats on the lawn above it and a bunch of people laying out, eating, drinking, playing soccer, just picnicking and enjoying the natural beauty. From there you could walk up a trail for about 10 minutes and get into a huuuuuge cave. I guess you can go back into the cave for 2 hours - it’s that big! We only went inside and climbed around a little bit. There was a gold statue of a Thai god or something, sleeping, in this little shrine. It was a memorable view… this sleeping God in the depths of this huge limestone mountain which was illuminated by the only bit of sun beans sneaking in the small cave openings.

Probably the biggest touristy thing in Vang Vieng is the tubing. Tons of gap-year kids get dropped off with tubes at the other end of the river, where there are bars on the water pumping dance music and lots of girls in bikinis and shirtless guys getting wasted and partying. As you tube down there are bars all along the river and they pull you in and give you free shots and stuff. And there are rope swims and trapezes from platforms all over with these drunk kids flying by. It’s really a hysterical scene, and although we didn’t want to partake, we did want to check it out. I should be clear about why we didn’t want to participate… if those things didn’t sound like enough of a reason… in town you see SO many people injured. A guy in a neck brace, a girl in a sling, lots of people with motorcycle burns and bandaged limbs. If anyone would get hurt I am certain I would so NO.

Instead we went to the Mulberry Organic Farm across the river from the tubing drop-off bar to check out the farm and then maybe spy on the tubing scene a little. After discovering yummy organic Mulberry Wine from the riverside in our sophisticated wine glasses, and proper laughing ensuing over the party people, we did exactly what I knew we would. We joined them. We joined the tubers.

Kind of. The bar we went to was pretty empty and pumping good break beat music and we had a big deck above the river all to ourselves, where we shared stories and some booty-shaking. After a beer the trapeze became a serious consideration. That shit was from a HIGH platform and I didn’t have a bathing suit, so I thought I was in the clear. Not so. Me and my cute yellow dress (which I later lost. Yes really. I don‘t know how either.) did the water trapeze and then we were joined by all these super cute Lao kids who went on the trapeze with us, laughing and smiling and having so much fun. Playing with the kids was a pristine part of a beautiful day. It helped me be a kid again. Just for those few hours. Carefree and happy.

I’m chillin in my hammock watching the last of the storm roll past and thinking how damn lucky I am. This brief adventure in my life is coming to an end, and from it I’ve learned more than I ever thought I would. I love Laos and would love to spend weeks in the backcountry here learning more about the people and saturating myself in the natural beauty. It’s an interesting time to be here because you can see it’s rapidly changing and in a few years it will be more touristy, less authentic. I know that I am probably destined to go back to business, and can only hope my appreciation for the small things, the REAL things, will continue once I have a full wallet and a small amount of time off again. Tonight I sleep in a rugged bungalow owned by a local man and his wife. Everything around me is basic but keeps me safe and happy. I pay $5 a night for this. And the reality is I am so much happier than I was when I had a full bank account and an expensive NY City apartment. I fear losing a lot of what I’ve learned here. I’ve been pulled into this life unexpectedly for a reason. To learn all these lessons. I’ve got to be a trailblazer. Continue to be, I should say. I’ve got to find ways to keep life this simple, this good. It won’t be easy.

Wow, that is a eerie statement: I’ve got to find ways to keep life this simple, this good. It won’t be easy.

Recalculating…