Letters Home: Hello from Koh Tao

Family-

So, I've been spending the last few days trying to master this whole underwater breathing through tubes while swimming thing, but more on that later...

Just to catch you up, Laos was incredible and it lived up to all of the hype! My first impression of the country was the capital city if Vientiane which is shocking that it is a capital city considering you can walk across it in under an hour. Laos is very poor, and you notice this sad reality straight away. Often families live and workin the same place- the restaurant they own and operate along theMekong River. I only spent one day in Vientiane, which was plenty of time to see the major sites- Wat Ho Prekoh and the city itself. From Vientiane, we took a mini-bus north to the riverside town of Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng has been getting quite a bit of hype on the traveler's trail for being a bit of party destination- in Laos? I didn't believe it, but it was. The premiseis simple. Rent a truck intertube and take a tuk-tuk (small pick-up truck) 4km up the river. Start floating and stop as necessary at any of the numerous riverside bars competing for your business and enjoy the Beer Lao and free Lao Lao shots! And what better to mixwith alcohol than crazy rope swings and zip lines.
There is more to Vang Vieng than just the boozy tubing, the scenry is simply incredible- by far the most inspiring and beautiful place I've been on this trip. My friend Grant and I decided to rent motorbikes for the day and explore the countryside and the views were pretty incredible.

From Vang Vieng I headed north to Luang Prabang- a UNESCO World Heritage City. The relaxed pace and easy going atmosphere fit me perfectly. With a couple friends, I met heading the similar direction I visited the Kungsin waterfall- which for lack of a better description was like swimming in a postcard. What I haven't told you about Laos is the national curfew that states that all people- local and foreign- must be in the place of residenceby mid-night. This policy is, of course, relaxed yet all establishments close at 11:30pm and travelers looking to continue their good times are like, what now? Well in Luang Prabang you go bowling! And bowl we did. And my last night in LP the bowling (along with an uncounted number of Beer Lao), nearly did me in. My 6am flight to Bangkok was less than enjoyable, and I arrived to find the my body and all of my organs had decided to go on strike.

So, in the city that rattles till 4am to the beat of too many discotechs with tin roofs and where roosters crow at all hours for the day, I spent over 30 of my 55 hours asleep recovering before heading south to the islands...

Tim