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Today was rock climbing day. Me and two others from our hostel, still feeling a little worse for ware from a heavy night of drinking before (in which we saw Andy Murray win Wimbledon) wondered off down the strip, geared up in nothing but vests, shorts and flip flops. We booked the trip the day before with them telling us that we didn't need to bring anything as they would provide all the gear. We met another man at the shop who joined us and we all hopped in the back off a tuk tuk, driven by our guide "Toto". We drove away from town, over a makeshift toll bridge which went over the river, displaying spectacular views of Veng vieng town and the mountains behind. We carried on through the dirt tracks watching unchaperoned cows wandering down the lanes. We finally stopped off outside a little shop as it began to rain.
What the company didn't tell you was that we had a half an hour jungle trek though streams filled with sharp stones, muddy paths littered with bugs and millions of hungry ants, looming forestation everywhere, with sunlight barely streaming through and to finally top it off a 20 minute scramble up sharp, jagged and wet rocks...all done in flip flops! This truly dampened the experience. I for one love this kind of adventure, and if I had proper shoes on I no doubt would have relished it. However once you reach the top you forget about the fact that your feet have been battered (easier to walk up barefoot) and take in the view of a plethora of rice paddie fields and mountain ranges coated in clouds. We turned to toto, who had a large grin on his face...not a bad office to work in.
There were 6 rock faces you could climb. You were already very high up due to the scrambling we'd already achieved and now we had to clamber up these sheer rock faces. Toto quickly taught us how to tie the standard knot, and then raced faster than spider man up the mountain to install the clicks. Once he got to the top, he clicked in the last one and absailed down. We all attempted to climb most of the faces, each one increasing in difficulty. However sometimes you just had to stop and admire what you were doing and where you were doing it. After about 3/4 hours climbing we went back the way we came, again barefoot was the choice of footwear so I must have looked like a cow trying to walk down a flight of stairs.
On the trek back I lost my flip flops, my white vest and shorts were coated in mud and sweat, my mop of hair flopped over my head and my feet and legs painted in dry mud. I must have looked like I had been lost in the woods for days, devoid of any means of civilisation where the reality was just a city boy a little unprepared and out his comfort zone.
After a nice cold shower, some good red Thai curry and the restaurant owner's "toxic water" shots we headed to Jaidee's again. We met with Saskia and Aya again and drank "Jaidee bombs" until we could no more. He chucked us out at about 2 and directed us to a "Laos bar" whilst he closed up. 5 minutes he drives up to us in his pick up truck, tells us to get in and taxis us there.
Me, Sam and Yannick walked in first and immediately you could feel the tension. Now I've been into Chinese bars as the only foreigner but this felt different, you could instantly feel that all the Laos men didn't want us there as the women would be more interested in the tall white guys. It me about 15 minutes to relax and as I did I checked my surroundings. Jaidee was being his usual friendly self, I asked him
"How many girls in here are ladyboys?"
He said "Many Farm Ladyboys in here"
I said "What about this one" (point to a good looking girl behind us)
"I go ask.....no she not ladyboy"
"How do you know"
"I asked...wait here, I go check"
After that he went and "checked" and there is only one way you can check, and it involves placing your hand downstairs to see if something is there that shouldn't be. I was astounded by his audacity. He just shrugged it off with a cheeky smile and said "you have to check". I relaxed a little and recognised two ladyboy prostitues in the corner (they always sit outside the massage parlour next to fat monkeys trying to beckon you in). Jaidee comes running over to me and says:
"You go talk to them, they think you very handsome"
I said: "No I don't want to"
"No no no, c'mon they think your very very handsome" and grabs my arm and pushes me over. This was my first encounter with one and I had no idea how to react. They kept looking me up and down, twirling their hair, touching my arm saying "you're very big, you have girlfriend? I like your beard". I tried to be as neutral as possible so I replied "What's your name? How are you?" whilst trying to back away slowly. Like a gift from god the music ended and the night finished, I grabbed my drink and moved away asap, thanking Jaidee sarcastically.
After that Jaidee got back in his truck and drove us around Veng Vieng looking for the next party. The town was dead so he took us to his private bar, shutters down, but he opened it purely for our purpose and we sat in there playing music, drinking and talking....Jaidee never fails to deliver.
The next day it rained so motorbikes were out of the question. So I just relaxed fora few hours in one of the many lounge bars watching friends. I left, bought some "beerlao" merchandise and headed back and met Thomas (one of the rock climbers). We decided to go for a walk around the area we went rock climbing. We crossed the same rickety old bridge and went swimming in the strong flowing river. We continued to walk, seeing children and locals playing and working, each and everyone one saying "sabidee (hello)" as we passed on by. We saw a sign that advertised a path to some caves so we decided to check it out. We walked for about a kilometre, along a tiny path through all the rice paddies we saw the day before from rock climbing. It was truly phenomenal, it was virtually silent apart from the chatter of the farmers, the hum of the homemade plough and the footsteps we were making through the mud. The paddies provided an incredible reflection of the mountains and wooden huts. We never made it to the caves, yet I couldn't care less. It's incredible that this kind of scenery is readily available in a town that's know for drunk and disorderly foreigners, polluting the area with their sticky fingers with sex and vomit. We rode a tuk tuk back to town and the rain came down.
We went out that night, I said bye to Jaidee, did an upside down beer bong and left Veng vieng for Luang Pranbang the next morning. The hardest thing about travelling isn't the Mosquitos, the uncomfortable dorms, the cold showers, the long bus rides and the being ripped off at every opportunity as these provide a certain charm that you look forward to. The worst thing is meeting so many people who have the same mind set as yourself, who will teach you new music, games and share stories and travelling tips only for them to disappear when one of you moves on to the next town or country. I met one man who was so sick of this that he was going to a home stay for a few weeks and I can honestly understand why.
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