10 hour Bus rides are more fun when you're throwing up

Disclaimer: I have no camera anymore, so all of these pics were stolen from various people

After Koh Tao I headed back up to BKK, where my plan was to fly to myanmar, but my plans were thwarted my an imbecile in the Bainbridge post office who incorrectly mailed my credit and debit cards, resulting in their non-appearance in Bangkok the day before my flight, and lots of freaking out. So I missed the flight, waste of 100 dollars, and had to sit it out in Bangkok for a few days, which I was incapable of, so I got on a bus to Laos to meet up with all the peeps who had gone up the day before (friends from NYE). In retrospect I'm kinda glad my cards didn't come. I f they had come I would have go to Myanmar for three weeks, and probably not have gone to the Philippines at all, which would have been a travesty in my opinion.

I committed two grave mistakes en route to Laos: 1. I ate green curry, and 2. I went with only enough money to pay for the bus ticket, not enough to get me across the border and into Laos. My plan was to get off the bus in Thai at the border, get my money, cross the border myself, then meet up with the bus in Vientien and take it to Vang Vieng.

Within 30 minutes of the 10 hour bus ride I was throwing up all over the downstairs part of the bus, which luckily was vacant (I had gone down there once I could tell I was going to be sick so as to spare the feelings and olfactory senses of the rest of the passengers). I was incredibly fortunate that there were two girls from LA on the bus who took pity on me and took care of me, brought me water, bananas, etc. It became clear when we got to the border that there was no way I could get off the bus and make it there myself, I had a fever and could barely walk because I was so weak. These girls, who I had spoken 2 words too, paid my way across the border and into Laos ( I have since paid them back). Amazing what good people are capable of.

I ran into more problems when I got to Vang Vieng, but again I was saved again by benevolent (drunk) foreigners. I was so out of it, having been throwing up on buses for 15 hours at this point, that when I tried to read the room list to see which room to knock on, I read room 21 (age) instead of the actual number, so of course I couldn't find my friends. A drunk guy who was standing by playing with a puppy took pity on me, and his sister, who was with him, took me back to their room and put me to bed in one of their big comfy beds after giving me painkillers for my fever and water. So despite having the shittiest luck ever.. and getting food poisoning like three times in the past months, I had really good luck with people helping me.


Vang Vieng is beautiful, surrounded by huge limestone cliffs

Found Liam the next day and then proceded to lie in bed for four days with a fever while he tubed every day, coming back every nigh completely dead drunk and incoherently raving about how he had had the best time of his life, etc etc. Not fair. He also dislocated someones shoulder by falling on top of them off the water slide. haha, I guess thats not funny...buuut it kinda is.



Basically you just rent these tubes for five dollars and then float down the river and get wasted. The bars along the way throw ropes out to pull you in if you want to come, and then there are rope swings and zip lines, and all manner of things that you can get drunk and make bad decisions about. I never got to go, but I'm thinking about going back in march before I leave, just so I can tube, because I feel like I really missed out.