And then there were four and Laos with a capital Vientiane

In order: Skye and Gabe pondering a pool shot at Q Bar; where are we again?; nighttime fountain in Vientiane; trying to not scratch at Q Bar (with Curtis in the background); Curtis and I on back of tuk-tuk coming back from the river; Brooke and Skye sharing a bucket at Bar III on the river (why Bar III? it is the third bar downstream and the farthest we made tubing the entire trip); Bar III with Bar II's zip line infrastructure in the background.

This morning we departed Vang Vien to travel by mini-bus to Vientiane and also had to part ways with Gabe as he is heading to Bangkok via bus with Curtis and Michelle. Gabe has been a great travel mate and friend for the past two months and this afternoon seemed so strange as the first time since mid-September Gabe was not near.

After we all said our goodbyes to Gabe, Curtis and Michelle we boarded our ultra-cramped and ultra-old mini-bus - 12 people in a space for maybe a mom and three kids. No air conditioning, four hours, no problem.

The drive was more or less non-eventful (a very good thing) and we arrived at the Laos capital city of Vientiane - the only capital city on the planet without a KFC or McDonalds (as we were told by an Oz ex-pat at dinner tonight). Vientiane is hosting the SEA (southeast Asia) Games this month and the city is decorated in Laos flags and team buses are escorted throughout our neighborhood via police escort. The main road through town actually has a police man on EVERY block to stop traffic when the buses drive through to the National Stadium and sports complex. If we are ambitious, tomorrow we will watch live sports.

Laos' time as a French colony has again left this town with a very French feel. Lots of cafes and bakeries and none of the raucous bars that had been the staple of Vang Vien.

Yesterday was our last day with Gabe, Curtis and Michelle so we tubed the length of Vang Vien's Nam Song (then handed over our tubes to the local Laos kids that jumped on our little rafts as stow-aways), lunched and then tuk-tuked back up river to attend an afternoon at the river bars. Death swings were ridden (the three story trapeze swing over the river), zip lines were rode and lots of good times were had. After dinner, a night out on the town that featured dancing in flourescent orange life jackets and dodging people carrying AK-47s patrolling the streets we all miraculously made it back home to Nine Noi's safe and sound.

Tomorrow, NZ Nick, Skye, Brooke and I will tour the town on bicycles and then Brooke and I head to Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh via a 22 hour (TWENTY-TWO!!!) bus ride and NZ Nick and Skye will fly to Hanoi.

Please wish me luck on the bus and that I do not spend eight hours with a chicken on my head and a goat on my lap.