almost home

I guess this is a last brief update of my stories before I head home. From Vientiane the group of six split up. A few people wanted more time in the city, while three of us wanted to move on to Vang Vieng to go tubing. After the five hour bus ride north we got in around two. We wanted to tube that day and leave the next, just a quick stop off before Luang Prabang. Well by the time we dropped our stuff at a guest house and changed for swimming, it was too late in the afternoon to rent a tube (fine for me cause I was not feeling on top of my game). The next morning we booked a tour that supposedly included trekking, caving, and tubing. The landscape of Laos is gorgeous and walking around the hills was not a bad way to spend our morning. We were in caves most of the time, but explored a village or two as well. We got served a marvelous bbq lunch and then proceeded to tube inside a cave. A bizarre activity if there ever was one, pretty cool though. We learned that that was the extent of the tubing that we had signed up for. Disappointed (as we had stopped in this town solely to tube), we decided to swim the river without tubes. It was pretty swell. The whole place though was rather interesting, and as other tourists told us before we went, its hard to believe a place like that exists. The river is lined on each side by bars giving out free whiskey shots and selling Beer Lao. Each bar has a rope swing that is probably around twenty feet high. The atmosphere is more like an MTV beach party than a remote village in a developing country. Us swimmers were granted quite a few odd glances as we were the only ones without tubes, however we all agree it was worth the 4K swim. Oddly enough, 20 meters downstream from the last bar, I hear a voice call "Sarah!" Thinking to myself, 'I'm in the middle of Laos, who the *^@$ knows my name?' I turn around to find one of the three who had stayed in Vientiane floating towards us on a tube. A nice coincidence considering that day in the midst of exploring a cave, Garik (a fellow traveler) and I decided to just turn right around and go to Bangkok. At this point we were planning to get visas to Myanmar and to explore the country from about the 7th of May to the 16th. This left us without saying goodbye to some of our companions. None the less the next day we headed to Thailand (an extraordinarily long bus ride- one reason we decided not to go to LP). Once in Bangkok we investigated Myanmar visas. Luckily (only in hindsight), the embassies were all closed that weekend and that Monday as well (Coronation Day). Realizing that we would have to expedite the visa- costing more- and shorten our time in the country (no good because it takes time to travel there) we made the harsh decision not to go. Then the cyclone happened and solidified that decision. So, it was off to the south of Thailand. We went first to Railay- a remote peninsula on the Andaman side. This destination was chosen for the sole purpose of some rock climbing. A good decision indeed. (I continue to get hooked on sports that I can't really afford). When we first got there it was rainy and gave off a poor impression. The accommodation that we got was the cheapest and showed it. (It was termite ridden, mildewed, infested with mosquitoes, bathroom that didn't work so well, and smelled like the house in DC before we began renovating it- not to mention we woke up to a rat in our garbage) The next day, our climbing day, turned out to be sunny and allowed us to not only enjoy our climbs and the views, but the gorgeous beaches afterwards. We left that afternoon however and headed towards the gulf of Thailand and an island known as Ko Tao. This island was home to us for about a week. It was a tropical paradise and is renowned for its scuba diving and snorkeling. We just had to take advantage of the dive schools there and signed up for an afternoon of diving. Again, fantastic. Say many many fish and coral. Trigger fish, clown fish, angel fish, etc (i don't know all the names). Our friend who was in on the Myanmar plan met us here after completing his own solitary adventures. We rented two motorbikes in order to explore our island and ended up on the southeastern tip (we were staying in the northwest- Sairee). Here we rented snorkel equipment and went exploring for an hour or two. Well we were near the end of our energy level when the barracudas showed up. I nearly ran head first into one and Garik was actually chased. All of this is rather disconcerting considering the Fall LC Cuba program had a participant loose his finger to a barracuda while swimming not too far offshore. That night, we were forced to return to Sairee in a rush as a monsoon struck right as we were leaving the southern end. Driving motorcycles in pouring rain and gusty winds was slightly more than ridiculous. We returned safely and rewarded ourselves with some of the best Indian food I have ever had. Other than that our days were spent lazily reading on the beaches, wandering the island and just relaxing (Thai massages are great!). I am now in Bangkok waiting for my Vietnam visa to be completed as I am scheduled to return to Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow. Then its roughly two days in HCMC and I am back state side. Alas my journey has come to an end. Hope to see you all soon.