Pak Beng, Laos

If Pak Beng is on your list of 'Top 10 Places to Go Before I Die', I'm going to persuade you otherwise. If you have your heart set on going to Pak Beng, don't click the little 'read more.'

SIM Adventure in Laos

So, if you have been following our blog you know of the difficulty I've had in providing backup Internet access while we have been traveling. This is the story of my adventure in obtaining a working data SIM in Laos. Maybe it wouldn't be quite the adventure if I were smarter. Here is the story such as it is (and as I am).

My Office - 2013-01-07

This is my office today in Luang Prabang, Laos. It is a chilly morning, probably in the 60s. Without the many wires it would be a pretty view. I am sitting on the second floor balcony of our guest house looking out over a main street. Across the street is a buddhist temple and market. The structure in the picture is a gate/entrance to the temple. Palm trees are pretty any time and anywhere. Do you think anyone would mind if I just cut those wires to make the view better?

The Blue Lagoon

     Today we set out for the blue lagoon, a natural swimming area with an amazing cave next to it.  When we started, we packed sandwiches from a street cart and water shoes to change into.  We rented some bikes and set out to find the blue lagoon.  We quickly found out that the brakes on my moms bike didn't work and that the bikes were about to fall apart, but we kept going.  A little way into the journey we came across a stream, as I set across it I lifted my feet to keep them dry.  The water was deeper than I expected and I stopped in the middle.  My feet dropped down to balance myself and soaked both of them.  With my shoes sopping wet I continued on.  The road was very bumpy with rocks everywhere.  In some parts it was all that I could do to hold on and hope that the bike wouldn't break.

River Fun in Laos [BY JENNA]

Today I went on a tour  that included tubing on a river in a cave,  jumping off a high platform (a really high scary platform) into the river and kayaking (for 2 hours).   All of those things combined took about 7 hours, it was a LONG day (for me at least.)

When we got in the cave in was a bit tight, but we made it.  In the cave we were on tubes  and the water was really cold.  Through the cave there was a long rope and we all had to hold on to it to get through the cave.  Sometimes it was to shallow so we had to stand up and carry the tubes.   Some parts I didn't have to pull my self on the rope, I was right by the tour guide and he let me hold on to his tube.  We had headlamps and one time the tour guide told us to turn off our headlamps and then it was really dark.'

One of the tour guides jumped off a high platform and it looked fun, so I wanted to do it too.  It was scary going down but I had a life jacket so it was okay.  My brothers Seth and Sam also jumped off the platform.  I jumped off the platform four times.

We started kayaking by being pushed out into the river.  Then we started to row.  The tour guide that jumped off the platform splashed me so I tried to splash him back but when I tried, he splashed me.  For the first hour I rode with Sam and for the second hour I rode with my dad.  I wanted to take a break from rowing every 5 minutes because I was tired but I couldn't because I was usually in the back.  It was fun but I was really tired after we were done.

Me entering the cave

In the back of a truck with the kayaks on top

Eating lunch after tubing in the cave

Me jumping off the high platform

After jumping in the river

Kayaking on the river

Kayaking on the river

Me and my dad in a kayak

My Office Today - 2013-01-02

This is my office today in Vangvieng, Laos. I realize that I am not recognizable in the shadows (maybe it's better that way) but the point of the picture is the awesome mountains.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from me and my "buddha-ful" wife and children in Laos!