Vang Vieng on Repeat

What can I say? I'm an adventure junkie. It was back to days of cycling, caving and rock climbing. I even got some pointers in lead climbing. That means I'm on the rock and the rope that's holding me is actually clipped in below me for most of the climb. If I were to fall, I would fall double the length that I've climbed since the last clip in. That can be a bit dangerous... No worries, though. I was practicing on a really easy climb.

I spent my time with Joee, a couple of different Irish guys, a dutch guy and some, gasp, American girls! The American girls and I agreed, that the number of Americans on the travel circuit are few and far between. Americans just don't seem to be as big of travelers. The population of Ireland is just over 4 million - comparable to one large American city. Yet, the Irish are everywhere! I've met at least two dozen on my travels so far. Conversely, I've met a whopping 5 Americans. That's pitiful when you consider that America's population is 75 TIMES THAT OF IRELAND. Yeah, there's more than 300 million of us. And I've met 5 on the road. Wow.

Enough of the rant. Vang Vieng still reigns as my paradise in SE Asia. Joee, the Irish-American-Dutch crew and I finally all decided to move on though. The boys, Steve, Kevin and Frank joined Joee and I on the kayaking trip down to Vientiane, Laos. The girls caught a bus and met us there. The kayaking trip was a bit chilly... but an absolute blast!

I battled my first true white-water rapids with Joee in a two-man kayak. Joee and I lost the battle and tipped. I got pulled under the water for a long time. It raised some eyebrows. My guides and peeps from another group on the water all commented on how long I was under. I'm not sure how long it was exactly. I just remember being dragged through swirling water. At first, I tried fighting to get to the surface. But, I couldn't find the surface. For whatever reason I wasn't too alarmed though. Something in my head just told me to wait until I was swept to calmer water. I remember being submerged and just thinking sarcastically, "Anytime I could get a breath of air... you know, that would be great!" Eventually, I did surface... and I lived to tell you about it! No really, sparing the drama... not once was I panicked. Not once did I feel like it was a life-threatening situation. I wasn't scared for my life like I was when riding in those crazy, killer buses in Vietnam.

Our guides barbecued some delicious kebabs for us to eat for lunch. We also stopped for some cliff jumping. Eight meters high. Yeah, that's high. One of the guides went first. Then the dutch guy, Frank. The rest of us were all just staring. I knew if I waited too long I would chicken out. So, I jumped. I'm not gonna lie. I panicked a little during that one. Swinging from bamboo towers didn't prep me for this fall. You jump and fall... and then you realize you're still falling. As you're gaining momentum you think, "Crap. I'm falling really fast. This could be bad. This could hurt." It does hurt. But not too bad as long as you land feet first. I landed a bit on my bum and felt the repercussions of that for while. I wasn't hurting as badly as Kevin, though. He's one of the Irish guys and he fell on a more sensitive part than I did... if you get my drift. Ouch!

The rest of the kayaking was laid-back and easy. We just traveled with the current, gazing at big boulders strewn along the banks. Our guides told us that during the wet season these massive boulders are fully submerged. Try as I might, I couldn't really imagine the river that swollen. That would mean the water level would be at least 8 feet higher than it was already. At least!

Kayaking definitely beats travel by bus...

Here are some videos of our kayaking adventure. Joee had a waterproof camera with her that could take video, so we enlisted someone from the other group to grab footage of us. The first video is just a brief video of me kayaking and our surroundings. Joee and I are the second kayak to make a go at the rapids on the second video. If you notice, when the rapids take us out, I don't surface on video... it was sometime after. I'm the second person to jump in the third video.

The next three videos are climbing videos from Kevin...

**All the pics and vid from this post are from Joee and/or Kevin.**