Monday, June 14th I started the day early finishing the projects I had left to do in the office. For 6 hours my heart rate was uncontrollably high, to the point where I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack. I've worked under pressure many times back in L.A. But I haven't had the feeling of stress in the past 15 months. So yeah, around 2pm I had to leave the office to go back home and pack, exchange money, eat, and pick up my bus ticket. The travel agency said they lost my ticket and there weren't any space left, not even sleepers. I stared at the girl and said "This is your fault you know that?" she nodded yes and apologized. She had my cell number and could have called me but didn't. So I continued to stare at her and said that she will find me a seat because my visa will expire the next day. She started making phone calls. Okay so, I'm not a nice person, I'm really not that nice. I can be a real bitch when needed. I sat there and watched her every move so she knew I was serious and that maybe, it wouldn't be a good idea if she had to say again that there were no seats left. Oh and guess what? She found an available seat. So that wasted 20 minutes of my lunch time.
Usually I carry my knife in my pocket whenever I travel. Always. I'm always the target on the bus for being a foreigner, but when I got on the bus, no one noticed me. Duh! I look like them! Anyways, I get on the bus and it was crowded. The guy next to me asked if he could have the window and I obliged. After a while I knew why he wanted the window. We picked up hitch-hikers along the way and sat tightly in the aisle. I felt sorry for them to endure 24 hours of sleep-sitting and I let one girl rest her head on my lap to catch some snooze.
Arrived in Vientiane, Laos on Tuesday 4pm. I called Guy and told him that I was in town and we planned where to meet. So when entering in a new country, sometimes you don't have a clue on how much things are suppose to cost. Such as tuk-tuks. I didn't know how far Nanphu (landmark fountain in the town center) was from the bus station that I was dropped off at. So I negotiated with a driver and he started out with 60,000 kip (8,000 kip to our $1). I said 10,000 kip. He laughed at my face and said 50,000 kip, I said 10,000 kip. He laughed at my face and said 40,000 kip, I walked away. I found another driver and he started with 30,000 kip, I said 10,000 kip. He gave me a sad face and said 20,000, I agreed. I got on the tuk-tuk and more people got on, I asked them what the price should be from where we were to Nanphu, the locals said no more than 10,000 kip, dammit! The driver dropped everyone off (they paid him 3,000 kip) and I was the last sitting in the tuk-tuk, after a couple turns it was Nanphu. So I decided to give him $1 and a 2,000 kip, which comes out to 10,000 kip. He stared at me and said 20,000 kip. I said "Yeah I know, but then my friends told me that it should be 10,000 kip, and I think that's what I should give you. Because I'm new to this country and you're taking advantage of my ignorance, and that's really not fair." I know this is mean, but I knew he didn't know any English. He smiled and tried to put his hand down my jean pocket to find my notes. I grabbed his hand away from me and said "What are you doing?" with a smile on face. I noticed from afar that a foreigner was going to come to my rescue, but stopped and watched the whole time incase things got heavy. The driver tried to do it again and I swept his hand away, I smiled and said "I'm not going to give you another 10,000, okay thank you, bye." The driver surrendered and went back in his tuk-tuk and drove off. I saw Guy and he introduced me to his couch surfer, Michale from Italy, the foreigner that tried to save me. Michale said he was watching the whole spat and said "You handled that very well, like a professional." Gee thanks!
We went back to Guy's mansion. So here's the deal: Guy is Laotian descent but from L.A. and teaching in a university for 3 years in Vientiane. We clicked. It was like being back in L.A. with the girls! We got to his house and the last season of Ugly Betty was in the DVD player, my eyes lit and we all knew it was t.v. time. We bonded for 4 hours watching Ugly Betty until it was time for us to sleep. I slept.
The next morning Michale left to travel throughout Laos. Guy and I went out for lunch and met with a couch surfing German couple. They were a good looking sweet couple and we all clicked. I told Guy that if he liked Ugly Betty, he would probably like Glee. I saw a few episodes when I had cable t.v. back at my old guesthouse and was in love with it. Anyways, I didn't have much time to plan where I wanted to go and realized that the places I wanted to visit were too remote. Plus it was HOT to take a motorbike. Vang Vieng was the closest, I knew Vang Vieng was a party town but I didn't want to make pre-judgements. I was at a bus station and it was taking forever. It would cost 50,000 kip for a 5-hour ride, plus waiting another 2 hours for it to depart. I met a family outside of the station that was going to Vang Vieng, they said I can ride in the back of their truck full of rice sacks and a canopy cover for 20,000 kip. So I jumped in the back and fell asleep the whole way. I think we got there in 3.5 hours. They had to make a turn and dropped me off 3 km from the Vang Vieng center and I walked the rest of the way.
I past through some villages but still...I think the whole area lost it's soul. It was way way too touristy for me. It was full of Aussie kids wearing board shorts with their cracks showing, carrying water tubes. I past by many sports bars that were playing Seinfeld and Friends and blasting 10 different songs at once, like they were trying to out song each other to get customers. It was still beautiful, the scenery was nice and I had a good cheap hotel room with a nice view. But I didn't come to Laos to party or to hear Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," Ice Cube's "You can do it," and 50 cent's "Hey Shorty" playing at once all the way till 4am. I left the next morning back to Guy's house. I would rather watch Ugly Betty over and over than to stay in Vang Vieng for another night. BUT, I will say this...if I come back to Laos, and I do go back to Vang Vieng, I will be more prepared to do the outdoor activities, I love exploring: rock climbing, caving, and swimming. It's just not what I felt like doing at that time. I wanted to relax and be at peace.
Vang ViengI got to Guy's house and saw his car in the drive-way. I shouted his name and I heard "What the hell?" in a high pitched voice. He was happy to see me. The German couple was still there and what do I see on the t.v. screen? GLEE!!! They got the season 1 Glee and was having a marathon.
That night we went out. There was a soccer game, German against Siberia? I don't know, Guy and I weren't interested. We were the only ones sitting away from the t.v. blabbering about Ugly Betty and being 2 obnoxious Angelinos. We met an Aussie lesbian and a young Dutch boy that thinks he knows everything. We went to a bar that had a rock 'n roll band that was performing cover songs. At the bar...the Aussie lesbian asked if I was gay. I said no and I thought maybe it was because I was so bestie with Guy? The Aussie lesbian didn't talk to me much after that. I got into a real bitch-out (2 arguing bitches) with a gay Austrian dude, that was fun...I won. And Guy and I pretty much got kicked out of English pub because some guy really wanted to see the soccer game and we were in his view...we bitched him out to relax.
Later in the night, Guy has been trying to get into the Dutch boy's pants the whole time, but the Dutch boy was trying to get into mine! I threw out obvious signals that I wasn't interested and actually had to confront him that he wasn't gonna get any of this. We all slept in separate beds.
The next morning the German couple left to Vang Vieng and I woke up to see Guy over me with breakfast. I had 4 hours of sleep and had a small hangover. I ate the pineapple but couldn't eat the eggs with mushrooms and bacon, I so wanted to! Afterwards, we dropped off the Dutch boy somewhere...thank Goodness, and Guy and I got massages. After lunch we planned on what to do that day: Snack binge, Glee, and Cycle 14 of America's Next Top Model. Oh and picked up an couch surfer Aussie bicyclist.
After one more massage, singing Glee songs, snack binges, Glee again to educate the Aussie bicyclist, my week had to end. I missed Hanoi. So I got my new Vietnam visa and went on another 24-hour journey back. I'm going to enjoy this year very much.
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