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Well it’s official our camera refuses to work. It turns on opens up and then shuts back down. So for the time being we will not be able to share any more pics just stories. So I guess this is good it’s finally making us take some time to write. Hopefully when we get to Bangkok we can get it fixed or sort something out. Until then were counting on the good old disposable cameras at ten bucks a pop. We aren’t even sure if we can count on those because once we bought a couple and started to walk away I noticed that the expiration date on the camera was different on then on the packaging. When we went back and asked for non expired film they seemed to have no problem finding the cameras that were not expired. So we’ll see if our film develops but we don’t have much faith. But if they are going to screw you on film you can’t very well trust them to buy a cheap digital that will probably break the next day! Anyways, after our day from hell in Vang Vieng we stayed around another day to sort out the next leg of our trip. We decided we needed to get out of Laos and fast if at all possible which in Laos it most certainly is not. As much as we wanted to check out the Southern part we decided we needed to get moving so we booked a flight from Vientiene to Siem Reap in Cambodia. For the rest of our time in Laos we did not try to do too much. Vang Vieng is littered with restaurants that offer movies or all day long friends, Simpson’s, or family guy reruns. So we took in a few viewings and just chilled out. On one of the nights we were convinced to make a showing at Smile Bar which is where all the travelers gather and talk about how they are all so different and glad that they’re not doing the “touristy” thing and that is why they are in Laos. We meet some really nice people but a little misguided if they think they are so original because at that moment we look around the bar taking in the sea of Western faces that have plagued us since we left Thailand. We were all doing the same thing traveling the same places and at the moment taking in not a locals bar but a bar that caters to travelers. Brandon and I are quite comfortable with the fact that we are tourists, I mean how can you not be when you travel but the Europeans seem to love coming to Southeast Asia and acting like they found some hidden oasis that until them was left untouched. Or otherwise complaining about how much things have changed since the last visit as if these countries should stand still and not move forward like back home. Anyways that’s just my little b**** session because we just keep running into the same old story of being a true traveler while sitting in a restaurant or bar that serves western food to western people!
The trip south from Vang Vieng to Vientiene was less eventful than the previous bus trip and was actually quite quick getting us into town in the early afternoon. We stayed at Joe Guesthouse which was run by a very nice group that took very good care of us. Vientiene was very hot and once we realized there was no hope in replacing our camera and that we could only stomach the heat for so long we stumbled onto our favorite café, JoMa. This place we fell in love with in Luang Prabang and we couldn’t help bet spend our afternoons here in there comfy chairs enjoying the aircon and refillable but strong coffee. We attempted to ride bikes around town making it even out to the Indian embassy to see if we can sort out our visa. Easier said than done, every embassy in Southeast Asia offers same day visas for India for every nationality except US. For some reason we need special clearance and references and we have to pay triple the price for this. Not sure what we did to India but apparently there is no country that we have not pissed off in some way. So after the useless trek to the embassy we had to take in some aircon to recover and refresh so back to JoMa (we really should take stock in this place). After some recovery time we set out on our bikes to take in Phat That Luang which is the golden stupa considered to be the national symbol of Laos. Once again it was quite a journey in the hot sun on bicycle but by the end of the day we at least felt like we accomplished something as we sipped coffee once again in café JoMa with all the other travelers. I’m not to ashamed to admit when I need the comforts of home and this place offered just that. Overall we didn’t do much in Vientiene but we really enjoyed doing nothing there. We ate terrific food (we found a tex-mex restaurant that could do it better than anything we ever had in Chicago) and caught up on some reading and planning. On the morning of March 3rd we set out in tuk tuk to the airport at only 4:30am on our way to Cambodia!
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