Laos!

What a fascinating country. My trip here lasted from Thursday evening to Wednesday evening (which was longer than I had initially planned). Eight other girls and I crossed the border to the capital city of Vientiane. Here, we:
-ate an amazing Italian dinner at Cote d'Azur
-stayed in a cheap/basic guest house
-ate a delicious breakfast at a French cafe (one of the best croissants I've ever had!)
-visited Phra That Luang (a stupa that is the symbol of Laos)
-saw a monument that is an imitation of L'Arc de Triomphe
-enjoyed lunch at a westernized fancy restaurant (and rid ourselves of sweat in the A/C)
All of these French elements are a result of the French colonizing Laos, and are pretty evident everywhere. From Vientiane, we took a 3 hour van ride to Vang Vieng and met up with the rest of the Cal Poly crowd. Here, we:
-stayed in a guest house along the river
-ate sandwiches on baguettes
-kayaked on the Nam Song River
-enjoyed the incredible mountains along the river
-went caving
-ate some awesome Indian food
-went tubing down the Nam Song (Vang Vieng's main attraction) and stopped at the rope swings and bars along the way
This city is a popular destination for white, young tourists who love adventures and crazy nightlife! I met quite a few who decided to extend their vacation there to last a few months! After Vang Vieng, Emma, Laura, and I decided to skip class so that we could travel further into Laos to Luang Prabang. We took a 6 hour van ride (with plenty of curves along treacherous cliffs) to our next destination. In contrast to Vang Vieng, this town was filled with the older crowd of tourists. It was a beautiful town. My friend Emma described it perfectly when she said, "It looks like someone picked up all of the Asian people and just put them in a French town!". I could've sworn I was in Europe. Here, we:
-stayed in a large room in an old guesthouse
-shopped for handicrafts in the night market
-ate some delicious food, once again (modern Lao food, baguettes, etc.)
-walked throughout the town
-visited waterfalls with clear blue water
-ventured to the top of a hill, stopping at Buddhist shrines along the way, and watched the sunset from the peak
To end this adventure, we took a 10 hour bus ride back to the border. It was definitely an exhausting trip, but well worth it! Laos has probably been my favorite part of the trip so far.