lao day 4: vang vien - luang prabang

bus rides can be fun... when you aren't sitting next to ... ohh... saayy... a girl who listens to awful music very loudly on her headphones and passes out with the window open. the drive was, however, extremely beautiful. we drove northeast through the mountains and the peacefulness of the landscape was consistently ruined by blasts of whatever nonsense the girl next to me was listening to. actually, i'm exaggerating. the music was annoying but the landscape was beautiful enough to make me ignore it. and the fact that the window was open meant that at least half of the noise went straight out the window and the other half was melded with the sound of the engine. okay, enough of that.
we stopped for lunch half way and met some of the other riders: lucy, gemma, and tai - all australian. when we arrived in luang prabang, we discovered that the bus drivers have a deal with local tuktuk drivers. the "bus station" is several miles outside of town and you are stuck there unless you are willing to pay the tuktuk driver to think about giving you a ride into town. we got into town and found a hostel with our new bff tai.
i liked luang prabang. it was by far my favouritest city of all. i can admit that it was the most tourist-friendly. and by that, i don't mean backpacker-friendly, because vang vien, with all of its opiates and daybeds and tubing activities is pretty backpacker-haven-esque. luang prabang is neater. it's nicer. there is a pretty fun night market that makes use of cute little kids that con you into buying things with their sweetness...
but i guess i like it because it caters to more people. my parents: expensive restaurants in gorgeous french-style terraces, me: night market food - $1.5US for grilled mekong fish on a skewer and a full plate of whatever sides you could want with it, or the locals: squirrel. mmmmm....


day 5: kuangsi waterfalls
absolutely amazing. we met some other people to share the tuktuk with. the aussies from before and two swedish guys. after looking around for a good price, we just stuck with the guy from our hostel because we figured he had the keys to our room. it took awhile to get out there but i always enjoy the drives through the mountains.


i guess i'm just gonna leave you with those pictures... but to answer some questions:
1. yes, the water was seriously that colour.
2. yes, that is a monk sitting almost perfectly in the middle of my picture
3. yes, we swam in the water and yes, it was freezing.