Wrong turns, sneezng elephants and men in drag -- our adventures in Vang Vieng

Our first road trip in Laos was terrific and full on wrong turns, a sneezing elephant and a rocket festival!

We headed up to Vang Vieng on Saturday morning and about 20 miles outside of Vientiane we realized we were on the wrong road. Luckily we weren’t too off track and would eventually hit the correct road after about 30 miles. And being on the wrong road meant we headed right by the Lao National Zoo which definitely required a stop. The zoo had an impressive number of animals (hippo, camel, porcupines, peacocks, lots of deer-type things, plus a kangaroo, asiatic black bear, otter, some very vocal gibbons and even procreating white macaques) and you could feed almost any of them. Besides feeding the baboon, Phil got to feed two elephants which he just loved. I thought they probably wanted the bananas peeled but the two elephants were eager to eat them peel and all. I fed one elephant once and thought that was enough, but Phil kept going and gave some of the bananas to a few local kids standing nearby. Phil finally was able to part with his new friends when one of the elephants either sneezed on him or just blew his/her (I didn’t check) nose. We were grateful that I always travel with antibacterial wipes!

After our brief stop off at the zoo we were back trying to find our way back to the main highway. The tricky thing about road travel in Laos is that not many locals know the actual names of the roads as listed on maps. We stopped on half a dozen occasions to ask where route 13 was and were greeted with blank stares. After several attempts, we finally figured out they just refer to Route 13 as “the road north”.

By noon we were on “the road north” and entering some stunning country. Winding roads, mountains in the distance and lush pastures. Plus, lots of houses on stilts, water buffalo, cows and PIGS! As many of you know, I think pigs are just adorable. We even got to see a mama pig and her baby piglets. Luckily, Phil didn’t stop or else we might have a new house pet.

We arrived in Vang Vieng in time for a late lunch overlooking the Nam Song River. Afterwards, we went for a hike to see some caves with two very capable tour guides, they were 13 and 9 years old. And the older one drove a hard bargain! The caves were very interesting, although the third cave was quite narrow so I stayed behind while Phil and the kids went inside. After our adventure into the caves, our younger tour guide Khit, an adorable girl, invited us back to her house for some water. So there we were meeting Khit's family, drinking water while their ducks and chickens wandered around the table.

It is no wonder that Vang Vieng has become a popular tourist spot; it is a beautiful place that still has retained its local flavor. As we sipped our Beer Lao at a restaurant at sunset we got to watch many locals come for their evening bath – with clothes on -- in the river. (Vang Vieng is also famed for its opium dens and “special pizzas” but we stayed clear of that scene.)

Sunday was quite a day. Most towns in Laos have a Boon Bong Fai (rocket festival) at the end of the dry season to encourage the rains to start. And Sunday was the Rocket Festival for Vang Vieng. The rockets are dressed up (almost like we have floats inthe US) and paraded into the camp grounds with everyone from the village singing and drinking Lao-Lao (Lao whiskey) as they enter camp grounds. Oh yea, and many of the men also dress up in drag. It is hours and hours of rockets being set off by each neighborhood with no real safety precautions. While the adults are parading around and drinking, all the kids from the neighborhoods are also shooting off there own rockets (U.S. moms and dads would be horrified!). Seriously, some of these kids holding rather large rockets weren’t older than 7!

And like most town fairs, there is plenty to eat and drink at the festival. BBQ chicken feet, ice cream, noodles, spicy papaya salad, beer, sodas and of course Lao-Lao. Oh and there's even a man-powered merry-go-round. We got to see Khit ride the merry-go-round with some of her friends -- we've got a great picture of that.

As we were wandering around and chatting up the locals Phil befriended one group who had already consumed a few bottles of Lao-Lao and were eager to have Phil join the fun. So there, at 10 am at the Rocket festival in Vang Vieng, Phil had his first taste of the famed Lao-Lao. I think I’m pretty lucky that he didn’t like it! Many rockets later, Phil and I were hot, sweaty and incredibly sun burnt. We headed over to a riverside restaurant to watch the rockets in the shade and with cold water at hand.