Vientiane and Hanoi

The tubing was everything we could have wanted. Incredible. Tubing is a bizarre water/party experience in Laos. We went with our British friends, Selina and Perry, who we've been traveling with for a few days. We got up early to fit it in before we moved on to Vientiane. We walked to the tubing place, where we signed a paper that excused the company of any injury that could occur while on the river. Then they scrawled a number on our arms in permanent marker and drove us up four kilometers by tuk tuk to the starting point, which was a bar. We met up with a couple of Germans and a taciturn Italian named Simone.

It was 9:30 in the morning, we were the first group, and we were offered a free shot of Tiger whiskey, which we all felt we had to accept. After that we all jumped in our tubes and floated by bar after bar, asking us to drink their beer and free whisky (and free bananas?). Some of the bars had slides and rope swings. The bar owners would throw ropes, life preservers, and bamboo poles into the water to reel us in. We stopped at a recommended one, famous for its enormous water slide and trapeze-like rope swing. Both were utterly terrifying and totally awesome. The water slide went up at an angle at the end, catapulting the slider high into the air, unable to control how they landed in the water. The trapeze was insanely high up. You had to climb a ladder forever, then teeter on the edge as the guy brought the trapeze to you. There were no harnesses or helmets, just the strength in your arms (which I don't have much of to start with). This was probably one of the craziest things we've ever done, and crazier knowing that it would be 100 percent illegal in the US, or just about any other country for that matter.

The last day in Laos we spent in the capital, Vientiane. Took the bus four hours from Vang Vieng, then checked into the Orchid Guest House when we arrived. We only had one evening there, but walked around a bit with our new British friend, Selina, and looked for lady boys. We saw a couple, too! The next day we were off on a flight to Hanoi.

We only spent one night here, also, but we made the most of it. We ran into a girl at the airport who was promoting her new hostel, called The Drift. We (John, Me, a couple from Britain, and a couple from Australia) got a free nights stay out of it. It was a really cool place with tons of information and an awesome rooftop bar, where we drank their specialty drink, the vodka bucket. It was a really great way to spend one night in Hanoi.

Today we got on a plane and now we're in Hong Kong, which is also totally awesome. It's like Taipei but way bigger, and with people always trying to sell you suits. We checked into our cheap but clean hotel and then visited the Temple Street market, where we ate some awesome wontons and talked for a long time to a Korean guy named Guan.

After so many days of going going going, we're excited to spend a few days in one place, just wandering. There's lots to see here, and we can't wait!