Laos Livin

        We have made it to Vietnam after an amazing two weeks in Laos with my parents! Our time in Laos included an amazing two day river cruise down the mekong, full day treks over unbelievable green peaks and rivers, kayaking, spalunking, elephant riding, tons of eating, and endless great company.
        The river cruise was really relaxing and enjoyable as we cruised about seven ours a day, split up by some cave stops and village walks. It was really interesting to observe such a remote culture based on fishing and farming alone with little to no interactions with the outside world. We saw lots of new fishing techniques, people panning for gold, and there were always lots of naked kids screaming and running around the shore. We met up in Luang Prabang after the cruise where my dad met up with us and from there we were on the move, treking, kayaking, and touring the city. We did one long trek to an overnight homestay in a Hmong village of only 300 residents. We were definitely brought back in time a bit as we lay in our bamboo hut that night. It was really fun. After, we headed south 7 hours y van to Vang Veng, known for its absurd drugs and party scene...mom picked it. It was by far the most beautiful area we have traveled through with dramatic steep peaks covered in virgin jungle. The town itself wasn't much and we spent most of our time outside of it. One day we went spalunking in some huuuge caves, some that take over 4 hours to walk through. We went about 500 meters into the largest one before turning around. The final cave/tunnel was filled with water so we rode tubes through it. After some more hiking and kayaking we headed down to Vientiene for a final couple days of touring and eating and enjoying the peaceful, happy, friendly Lao people. It was really great getting to travel all together and we had an amazing time. Laos is a spectacular country and will thrive in the coming years as they have so much to offer.
       Our first day and a half in Vietnam have been humbling as we visited the war museums. It is definitely hard not to feel like the bad guy as an American, especially since the communist government is in charge of all the writings. They make it very clear the North "liberated" the South and we were trying to destroy the country as a whole. That said we were clearly well out of line on several issues and it was very hard to see the images of tortured POW's and those affected by agent orange. Today we went to Cu Chi tunnels, a network of vietcong caves stretching over 500 km at their peak. We got to 'walk' through one of them about 30 meters ( I basically had to crawl it was so small) which was a really eye-opening experience. These soldiers would spend weeks inside, often without room to sit up. Crazy.
      Tomorrow we are off to the Mekong Delta for a homestay and some floating markets!! Hope your all well back home and getting some nice weather, Love Mas

p.s Happy Liberation Day! (Yesterday in Vietnam)