tasha. i reckon i have to go to the toilet.

you know what i think is funny? the word "toilet" in canada is a dirty word. we always cover up our intentions by "going to the washroom". not here. you ask for a bathroom or a washroom and they look at you like you're retarded. apparently everywhere except for north america has no problem asking "where's the toilet?", giving away their purpose in there. it's like in canada we want people to think we wash our faces 4-8 times a day.

also, everyone else uses the phrase "reckon". the only people in canada who use reckon are those that reckon they're going to pick up first cousin ellie may for a date.

but anyway, here we are in vang vieng. what a lovely little town. what a hellish ride to get here.

we got on the busses (yes, busses) at around 9:30 - they only had room for one on each, so shea and i were separated. no problem they said, you go to same place.

now, mom and dad, you might want to stop reading here.

this was the first time in SE asia i actually felt a wee bit unsafe. the mini busses were, well, not well maintained, of course no seatbelts, every time we turned a sharp left this sound that i always imagined the sound of a tire coming off (cough cough amber) was made . the "road" was paved, yes, but was made pretty much from a drunken ox trailing some string, i'm sure. it hugged the sides of cliffs with sheer drop offs, and often we'd pass on these crazy corners with no idea what was coming along the other side. i took a gravol-type pill (but way stronger) just because i've heard that the more relaxed you are when you crash, the more likely you are to survive. it was still difficult to sleep though, thank god for amber loading me up with good music on my dinky little mp3 player (i'll be sick of these 47 songs by the end of this trip. i need to buy a bigger one.) because i felt like it was my soundtrack to the end of my life, but it kept my mind off of things at least.

but - the scenery. wow. we went through so many remote villages, with real lao doing real farming and weaving real grasses for their real huts. it was the most authentic experience i've had in my two times to SE asia - it was incredible. naked happy kids bathing by their huts, playing, kids kids everywhere. happy people, working AND playing. it's what i love about laos - people play. kids are kids. it's amazing.

we'd pass through villages with pigs and ox running about, we killed a few chickens (stupid things. i hope it was the roosters. you learn to hate roosters here. COCKADOODLE DOO kaPOW) the kids would wave and yell HELLLLOOOOO!!! - it's really beautiful.

so, we arrived in vang vieng - well, i arrived. instead of going to the bus depot, our driver took us out to a resort really far from town, then suddenly couldn't speak a lick of english when i asked where the hell the other bus (i.e. shea) was. it was the first time in either of my times here that i've lost it. i had all the money, the map (shea hasn't read a think about laos. or where we were going.) and no shea. so i put on my backpack (which is decidedly heavier than when i left) and started hoofing it. along the way this nice older australian guy was asking people if they had accomodations, i said "first i need to find the bus station". i must have looked perplexed, because he said "are you separated from someone perhaps? your sister maybe?" i thought "holy shit, this guy's psychic."

nah, VV is just that small.

he had run into shea earlier, who was frantically looking for me. so i hopped on the back of his scooter (which is great fun with a 50 pound backpack on) and we went looking for her. turns out he has a guest house here, so once we found her, we checked into his place. it's called pan's place and it's awesome. they sell happy cookies. mom, dad, that means they're sold with a smile. really.

another crazy thing about VV is that there are friends bars everywhere. yes, bars with comfy seats that sell happy shakes and just play Friends DVDs for hours on end. it's insane. and they're busy, too. if only they had an arrested development bar, i'd be set.

today we're going to chill out, rent bikes (mountain bikes this time) and go explore some caves near town. tomorrow we're meeting everyone else from luang prabang and we're going tubing. after that, it's a long, long bus ride to saigon for christmas, i hope. i'm about to call and find out what's up (thanks mom).

i do have to say, i'm trying to keep my mind off of the fact that christmas is in 5 days. most of you know i'm a nut for christmas. i love everything about it. christmas eve is my favorite day of the year, because usually it involves baking, christmas music, the kids getting all pumped up and people dropping by for a drink and some food. this year will be so different, and i'm trying not to be sad about it, because this experience is amazing as well.

on that note, time to call le and tracey and see what's going on. "happy" trails.