From Laos to Bangkok

Hello Everyone!

So, I find myself back in Bangkok, Thailand and am finding it a bit surreal that I was here two months ago on the verge of beginning my SE Asia adventure. Now, I'm towards the end of my trip and marveling at how quickly time can fly by! While I'm feeling ready to come home and have even had my bouts of homesickness, I'm still excited for this last leg of my journey here in Thailand. I'll be picking my friend, Anne, up from the airport this evening and we'll be traveling together until I go and visit Amber in Geneva on Dec 9th. While I've learned so much about myself and life traveling solo and wouldn't trade that for anything, I'm definately excited to travel with a friend again!
Anyway, before I get ahead of myself, I need to fill you in about my time in Laos. Laos was one of my favorite countries I've visited during my travels. It has a unique and rugged beauty and a relaxed feel that I came to love. The country seems to be composed of these seemingly vertical limestone mountains that jut out of the ground every which way. They are often covered and surrounded by dense jungle and the wide open fields and gardens of the local people sustaining off the land. These mountains are also home to countless caves that wind themselves through the rock and contain gorgeous limestone formations that I had once only known through television. I went on a day trip with a group of Australians and a local guide to four of these caves when I was in Vang Vieng, Laos. One of the caves we must have walked into for 20 min with no end in sight! Once we were finally stopped by some shallow water, our guide had us turn off all our lights and you literally couldn't see your own hand in front of your face....it was that dark!! While this cave was more of a long corrider, we also visited more wide-open caves that contained beautiful limestone formations. In fact, some of the formations could be played like musical instruments as our guide demonstrated for us! The last cave that we visited was a water cave and we literally entered this particular one on intertubes guided by a rope. It wasn't a very big or impressive cave, but it was still fun to lug yourself through the water and explore this chasm in the earth. We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking through the countryside and local villages and tubing down the river to our starting point....Vang Vieng. It was an amazing experience peering up at these huge mountains covered in thick jungle foliage from the vantage point of a tube on the river! However, I have to say that the weather was a bit chilly and overcast that day. So, by the end, I couldn't think of anything but hot soup and tea! Anyway, the next day I rented a bicycle and spent the morning exploring the surrounding areas. While my bike felt like it weighed 500 pounds, the scenery was breathtaking and it was nice to set my own pace and be able to watch the occasional soccer match or observe the rice harvest in action. That afternoon, I took a long walk out into the countryside which was a welcomed escape from the tourist trap of Vang Vieng itself and a great opportunity to engage with the people and beautiful landscape.
After Vang Vieng, I went to Laos' old capital of Luang Prabang. It is an absolutely beautiful city that is build on a peninsula that juts out into the Mekong River. I had a lot of fun biking around the town and taking in the amazing river views. Also, every night, the main downtown street gets transformed into a seemingly endless night market with hundreds of vendors selling colorful and unique handicrafts. I definately had fun exploring! Also, one of the days, I went on a trek to visit some local villages and an incredible multi-tiered waterful with clear tourquise water. I even jumped in for a swim with some of the people from my group who I was trekking with! While the water was quite cold, the pools at the bottom of the falls were so clear and beautiful that it was definately worth it!
Unfortunately, I spent my last two days in Laos feeling sick. It was nothing serious and probably my body's way of telling me to slow down a bit! So, I took the opportunity to read a few novels and relax which wasn't so bad. :) Anyway, I'm feeling better now and am looking forward to starting my Thailand adventure! I'll keep you guys updated!

love and miss you all,

Rachel

PS: Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so sad that I'm missing my favorite holiday, but I think Anne and I are going to go out for a Thai vegan feast! So, I'll let you know how that goes! :)