Inspiring Travelers: Megan from USA

Inspiring travelers: Megan from Colorado knows how it's done.

I catch up with Megan from Colorado and she shares some thoughts about her travels and fun experiences around the globe. We met at the university, where we were both working at the Outdoor program, and where we both got our first tastes in international travel, on trips with the school, led by Professor Chad. She is an easy choice when looking to interview inspiring travelers, especially for woman travelers, traveling solo or other wise.

Hello Megan. Tell us a little about yourself. 

Megan-
I'm Megan McGrath. I am a 5th year senior at CMU studying to be a Paramedic. I am currently in Colorado (the best state of the 50), but I have been to 8 countries and Ecuador twice. First trip- Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey for 2 months; Second trip- Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile 2 months; Third trip- Ecuador (Cosanga mostly) 4 months

So how do you afford to take these trips? Are your parents rich or something?

Megan-
No. The last trip was really inexpensive for me because I volunteered with a Grand Junction based program called Sustainable Roots. Room and board was completely paid for when I arrived. The trip before that I worked a lot in order to save, but traveling is a lot cheaper than most people make it out to be.

Were you nervous leaving for your first trip, or any others for that matter?

Megan-
I guess I was a little nervous on my first trip, but I got the experience to do my very first trip outside of this country with the Outdoor Program at Mesa. Once I learned from the best (Professor Chad Thatcher), I never hesitated to start my own new adventures since then.

So can you tell us how you keep on budget when traveling?

Megan-
In order to stay on budget I calculate out how much I am "allowed" to spend per day depending on how much I have from the beginning. I can settle for a cheaper hostel to do something really cool one day. Also, shopping at markets for things like bread and cheese is an easy meal that is always very cheap.


Do you have any advice or tips for anyone who wants to travel but doesn't think they can?

Megan-
Decide where you want to go, and just do it already.


What have you been surprised about the most while traveling?

Megan-
I was surprised at the small amount of crime I have found in foreign countries. People seem to think leaving the US is so dangerous, but getting your wallet stolen is just as likely to happen in the states as it is in a foreign country. People from different countries can be very friendly, giving, helpful, and interesting.


What's the coolest thing you've done?

Megan-
The coolest thing I have done was go to Machu Picchu... or maybe the pyramids. It is so awesome to tell people you have been to places that are constantly on a bucket list or a "must-see" travel list.

Do you have a favorite place in the World?

Megan-
My favorite place in the world is Cosanga, Ecuador. I made so many friends and really made connections with the people there. My favorite country in the world is Egypt. 

Thanks Megan. So what's next for you?

Megan-
Next on the list is going to have to be once I graduate in December (my mom grounded me to the states until I finish my degree.) But I want it to be the longest trip yet. I will probably start in Australia and move up through Indonesia, southeast Asia, ending in India.. or Nepal... or maybe China. Who knows? I will probably spend about 8-10 months doing this trip. Better start saving!

Peru, Part One: Mancora

On the long ride to the border, i had the misfortune o getting sat next to the only other foreigners on the bus; missionaries from Utah. I spent hours hearing about how i shouldn't be alone in such dangerous countries and how I was sure to die. He seemed to think since i had never been to Peru, I had never been ANYWHERE. In between listening to the missionary’s second-hand stories of an evil Peru, I spent hours on my iPhone writing my book. This is how my book came to be; by me writing all my stories into the notes section of my phone. After a while I had so many stories of my travels that someone said I should write a book. Since my whole journey seems to be one long adventure, it was easy to fill in the blanks between all the stories in the time line. Eventually, about a year after starting the book in South America, my few stories in the note section turned into my 100k word book. All written on boring bus, train and plane rides. And all on my iPhone.    

Writing my book got it's start on this stretch of highway in Ecuador, but a few hours later it almost came to an abrupt end. We were chugging along up a steep hill when two guys ran out and jumped onto our slow moving bus. I had luckily been paying attention and saw the whole thing from the beginning. I was just writing about my first trip to Costa Rica when I saw the masked men hop on, and I instantly knew what was happening. 

While the men were still in the separate driver’s compartment, I hurriedly shoved my phone and my passport holder, that also held most of my money and ATM cards, into the head-rest cover on the seat in front of me. It was just a cloth with Velcro attaching it to the back of the seat, and not a pocket, so no one would look there. Then I took my carry-on and shoved it under the seat and up toward the front of the bus near an old lady that no possessions. 

I did all this in about 5 seconds and had just started to warn the other foreigners when the door burst open and the masked man walked in pointing a hand gun at us. The other bandit was holding his gun to the drivers head and telling him where to pull over. His friend had a plastic garbage bag and started at the front of the bus, yelling in Spanish for people to give him their valuables. I don’t speak Spanish, but it wasn’t really required. 

The thief was making his way towards me, taking anything he could get from people along the way. One of those traveling sales men had the misfortune of being on board, and lost all of his sales money. I was relieved when the thief didn't notice my bag under the old lady and moved on. When the guy got to me and was swinging his gun between me and the missionary couple, the husband translated for me to give him my wallet and anything else I had and that it wasn't worth my life. 

I shrugged and gave him what I call my decoy wallet. It was a little pouch with about $6 in American singles and a wad of Colombian money that probably equaled $10. There was also two old library cards, an expired credit card that I had found and a Starbucks card. If I was ever robbed I planned on giving the thief this wallet and hope he thought he had a good score. It worked like a charm. The thief looked in the pouch, saw a wad of money and what he figured were a rich American’s credit cards and was satisfied. He searched my pockets for anything else. He asked where my bag was and I pointed to a pile of bags I had seen him already go through where he had gotten cameras and whatever else. He must have been satisfied that he had gotten everything I had and moved on. I was feeling pretty damn relieved and sure of myself. 

After what seemed a long wait they were gone. There was crying and wailing, and I felt sorry for these people. I didn't know what I would do if I had lost anything. It might be a common thing in these people’s lives, but it didn’t make it any more pleasant.

"Now you know why they take our finger prints at the beginning of the ride. It's because sometimes people get kidnapped as well." said the missionary, breaking the trance I was in. 

We were close enough to the border that we didn't wait for the police. They were waiting for us when we got there. I almost felt guilty being the only one leaving the bus with something of value, so I did so quickly and quietly, and made my way to immigration to get a stamp out of Ecuador. 

"Don't you want to report what they got from you sir?" asked the man.  

"I didn't actually lose anything. I gave him an empty wallet and hid everything else."

 He had never heard of a decoy wallet but thought it ingenious. Him and his wife had lost more than $1000 between them and their passports. They looked at me longingly as I waltzed across the border that they could not now cross. I thought it kind of sad that this incident wouldn’t be making the missionaries view of Peru any less damnable. Oh well.

Immigration for both sides was pretty pain-free. From there I took a bus south. I bought a ticket to Trujillo, which was half way to Lima. I knew Lima was too far for me to go and I would be way too tired and sore. On the bus I met a cool guy from New York who was traveling around by himself as well. He was only going to Mancora, a few hours from the border. He said it was a good surf spot with many backpackers. We talked the miles away, and by the time we arrived in Mancora I had decided to join him. 

He was meeting some other Americans he had met in Colombia in Mancora, at a hostel I would get to know well: Loki. We got off in mancora, which is a small surfers paradise. There's sand dunes and cliffs to the east, and a nice beach to the west that the town is situated along. There were a lot of cool little souvenir shops along the main street, that we walked by on our way to Loki. The town is tiny, and it’s easy to find Loki, as everyone knows where it is. 

The bus to the Peruvian border was much older and dirtier than the others I had taken so far. For some reason they copied all of my passport information and took my finger print. They did the same for all the passengers and I didn't know what for, but it made me a little nervous. When I got to my assigned seat I had the miss-fortune of being next to the only other foreigners on the bus. I say miss-fortune because they were the old missionary types who would not shut up. Since I told the husband that it was my first time in Peru, and that I was alone, he took it to mean I was a newbie of a traveler and needed guidance. 

   

The whole trip he kept saying things to scare me like, "I hope you locked you bag underneath the bus", or "Lima is too dangerous for a lone foreigner, you can stay at our mission" or "don't look people in the eye, they might stab you". I spent the first part of the journey trying to be polite and attentive.  

Loki. Awesome hostel

I have mixed feeling about the Loki hostel in Mancora. On one hand, it turned out to be one of, if not the best hostel I've ever stayed at. But on the other hand it was a major party hostel and not too relaxing. Another downer about the place is that it is basically a big compound. It is surrounded by high walls, and almost no one leaves the compound until they are catching the bus out of town. There is a restaurant and bar and pool and a gate to the beach and pretty much everything you would need so you don have to leave. They even tell you at checkout that its to dangerous to leave the hostel and wander the town. So besides me and a few others, no one really did leave. I didn’t really see the point in even coming to Peru, just to stay in a single, closed off area. But to each their own I guess.

Despite any dislike I may have had, Loki provided me with a way to travel indefinitely with little money. Nearly every member of the staff was volunteers working for their accommodation, food and half off of their bar tab. On my second day I took a job in the bar right along side of the others. I say Loki showed me the way, because they also had 3 other hostels along the route I was taking toward Brazil. Not only that, but now I realized that working or volunteering at hostels was a possibility, and that just opened up so many more doors and possibilities. Since then I've worked at many more hostels around the world, saving a lot of travel money.  

The hostel was so nice though, that I once again ended up staying much longer than intended. I needed to keep moving south towards Rio, but it was hard to get motivation to leave the nice pool and beach, to go on a 20 hour bus ride to Lima. One day however, with my schedule always on my mind, some of the staff came up and asked if I wanted to go to Lima for a Pearl Jam concert. The plan was to head there and start working at the Lima Loki after the concert. Well, nothing like a little motivation. Together we headed out to catch a very long and boring ride to the capital. 

Inspiring Travelers: Ron from Guatemala

Right now I am doing my very best to not freeze to death here in Estonia. As I write this, I am also working the night shift at the hostel I stay at. One of my favorite things about working in a hostel is the wide variety of cultures I encounter in one day. I love hearing or reading stories that inspire me to travel. I always have my eye on a map or on hte horizon, and it doesn't take much to motivate me, but i still love hearing travel stories. I meet so many awesome travelers on the road, or in the hostels, that I thought I would share some of their great stories. One such person is Ron from Guatemal. He is a pretty dedicated traveler, who also writes a travel blog www.nomadicforever.blogspot.com. For my first of many interviews, he agreed to help me out.

Inspiring Travelers: Ron from Guatemala decides to change his life into one big adventure on the road.

 So tell us about yourself.

Ron-
I'm from Guatemala and I am one of the few long term travels that I know from my country, because we don't really have a traveling culture. We don't really go on gap years, just safe, short holidays, because for them traveling is a big expense, and most people can't imagine it being possible to travel with little money, and would rather use their hard earned money for cars or toys, worldly things. I learned early that somethings are more important than social status, and I'm the proof that one can travel with little money. One day i decided i didn't want a regular life, being stuck in a office for my whole life, so i told my parents i was going to go travel, and i left a week later. I figured i would be gone for that long, but that was 3 years and 3 months ago

So what have you been up to? Where have you been traveling?


Ron-
I started out busing from Guatemala to Costa Rica. From there I flew to Florida and started traveling around the east coast of the US for a month, looking for jobs. After a while I went to the west coast to meet a friend I met in Nicaragua, I was getting low on money so i was trying to find work. Not finding any, i ended up going to Mississippi to work with a relative. between working there and again in Florida, I saved some money. My goal was to make enough to get to Europe, so when i finally did i bought a one way ticket to Belgium. I was trying to travel as cheap as possible, but after 4 months i ran out of money. I didn't want to rely on family to keep me traveling, so I started finding work in hostels and picking up ways to travel with little money. long story short, I have been traveling between different jobs around Europe, central and south America ever since. I worked or volunteered in many hostels, I posed nude for an art school, I bartender, and many other things as well.

Were you affraid when you first started out?

Ron-
I wouldn't say i was afraid, more like anxious. I was ready for the next chapter in my life to start.

How do you keep on budget?

Ron-
I have a very small budget always, so I developed many secrets. I always hitchhike. while I am traveling and not working, I don't drink a lot, I never eat out, and I cook my own food. I Couchsurf a lot. Most of the expenses traveling in Europe are transportation and accommodation. I hardly ever pay for transportation, and I've never paid for accommodation yet. I've slept in bus and train stations, churches and fire departments in Latin America, in parks and where ever. not to mention Couchsurfing and working at hostels. When it comes to working, I am good at keeping in contact with people I meet, and that gets me jobs here and there sometimes. A guy I met back home got me a job here in Estonia. A guy I met, who picked me up when I was hitching from Germany to Denmark, offered me a job on his sail boat in the Baltic.

What advise or tips would you give someone who wants to travel but doesn't think they can?

Ron-
leave your comfort zone. don't make excuses just make it a priority and go for it. It's all a state of mind. If you tel yourself you can do it, you will.

Do you have a favorite spot in the world?

Ron-
no.

Least favorite?

Ron-
Maybe Bulgaria. Just because of the mean border police. It was hell. They even told me not to return. But I did meet a really hot Bulgarian girl there.

So what's next?

Ron-
Well you know this answer since we are going together, but after New Years we are going to leave Tallinn and hitch to Ireland to find work and be there for St. Paddies day. We are meeting a girl we met here in Estonia, and 3 guys you met in Australia. just another example of keeping in contact. after a few months we will probably hitch to Georgia and try to get to India from there. Hard to plan that far, but that's our plan.

Bogota, Colombia

It's going to be hard to catch up on my blog; I havnt posted an update in a long time. At the moment I am holed up for the winter in Tallinn Estonia, working at a hostel. It's a long ways from where I left off to here, so I guess I'll just start at the beginning. Bogota.

After being home a few months, I was more than ready to be back on the road. I bought a one way ticket to Colombia, and the journey began. I landed in Bogota, and quickly realize that it would be nice to know some Spanish. I'd gotten along pretty well traveling the world with only English, but here would be different.

right away my luck was a little bad, as I found myself standing at the luggage claim empty handed as everyone else had already gone. it took me forever to get everything sorted, especially since I didn't have an address for them to send my lost luggage, but eventually I did. I gave them a hostel address, and took a cab there, hopping they weren't full.




Hostel Alegria did have a bed, and I stayed in a big dorm room. Ive hardly ever stayed in dorms, but it was alright. Bogota is pretty high in elevation, so it's pretty cold. The hostel had a big fire place that we sat around and socialized.

On my second day, I met Lexzy. She's one of the greatest girls I've ever met. She's now my girlfriend, more than a year later. When I met her tere in bogota, she was the happiest and most energetic person I've met. Within 30 minutes of meeting, we were going for pizza in a hole in the wall place in the Old Town and then to a local rock concert.

Together we took the gondola up the mountain to Monsarrati to see the cathedral and view bogota from above. We walked and explored all over bogota, trying out all kinds of restaurants and clubs. It was great. Colombia ended up being my favorite country in South America.

Eventually the road was beckoning loud enough so as not to be ignored. With sad and heart felt good-byes, we parted ways. We promised to keep in touch, and obviously we succeeded in doing so. It was sad to leave her that day, but exciting to catch a bus to Cali.

Salsa! That's all I hear about in Cali, colombia. I'm staying at Pelican Larry's hostel, in another dorm. Everyone wants to salsa, and it's hard not to get pulled into the scene. Cali for me ends up being mostly sleeping during the day and partying at night.

It's a shame to hurry through such a great country, but I need to get all the way to Rio for New Years to meet my friends. So once again, I promise myself to return, and catch a bus to the border of Ecuador. The ride is one of the most beautiful, albeit long, bus trips I've done. Life is good.

Favorite Places Part I: Cape Town

 

Google stock; Aerial of Cape Town

For a place to land on my favorites list, it has to be unique in some way, and had given me an experience I can't get anywhere else. Every day when someone hears about my travels, I am asked what country is my favorite, and I never have a definite answer. I haven't been able to say what one is my favorite as each one is awesome in different ways, and special in my heart. however I can give you a long list of different places that really stick out in my mind.
  

Google stock; kite surfers at Camps Bay



These aren't in order of favorite, rather in random order as I remember them. I was once asked where in Africa I would live if I had to choose, and after some thought I believe I would most like to live in Cape Town, South Africa.  I don't think that you will get the National Geographic African experience that one sees on t.v at home, and hopes for when coming to Africa in Cape Town, but that might be why I like it so much. Cape Town is a very modern and beautiful city, situated right on the Atlantic ocean.

Camps Bay



Add caption






Cage Diving



The night life is fun and ongoing, and there just seems like there is always something to do. Bar hopping at night, climbing Table mountain, sun tanning on Camps bay beach, paragliding over the ocean, sport fishing, cage diving with great white sharks, taking wine tasting tours... the list goes on and on.



Google stock; Panorama from the top of Table Mountain. From left to right are visible Lions Head, Signal Hill, Robben Island, the Cape Town city centre, Table Bay, and Devil's  Peak.



sky tram up the mountain



Most notable thing in Cape Town has to be Table Mountain. It is a flat top mountain with unparalleled views of the beaches and Cape Town. My ambitious and in shape friends took the time to hike to the top, while I took the sky tram, giving me some alone time sitting on a rock wall just soaking up the majestic beauty.



Google stock; Table Mountain seen from Lions Head



The clouds would just roll right over the mountain like a white wave, and I doubt very much that I've ever seen anything more beautiful. It was very peaceful just sitting there by myself, reflecting on life. Table mountain is a UNESCO World Heritage Sight, but also a candidate for one of the new wonders of the world, along with Rio. No one should go to Cape Town, or even South Africa without getting to the top of Table Mountain.



Google stock; Cape Town wine lands



 Cape Town's transport system links it to the rest of South Africa; it serves as the gateway to other destinations within the province. The Cape Winelands and in particular the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek are popular day trips from the city for sightseeing and wine tasting. Whale watching is popular amongst tourists: Southern Right Whales and Humpback Whales are seen off the coast during the breeding season (August to November) and Bryde's Whales and Killer Whales can be seen any time of the year. The nearby town of Hermanus is known for its Whale Festival, but whales can also be seen in False Bay. Heaviside's dolphins are endemic to the area and can be seen from the coast north of Cape Town; Dusky dolphins live along the same coast and can occasionally be seen from the ferry to Robben Island. Robben Island is where the prison is located that Nelson Mandela spent 20 years or so incarcerated.

A group of students from my college and I all rented motor bikes and drove down the most beautiful highway to Simons Town and Cape Point. The highway follows the coastline the whole way, with sheer cliffs on one side and beautiful beaches on the other. I'll never forget those views.

Boulders Beach near Simon's Town is known for its colony of African Penguins. We paid the fee for the park and got to walk over to the beach that was teaming with cute little penguins. There were so many little squaking penguins, just hanging out in pairs, or swimming in the ocean. Evidently surfing is popular too and the city hosts the Red Bull Big Wave Africa surfing competition every year.

  

 

From Simons Town we rode to Cape Point to see the southern most tip of Africa, where we had heard that you could see the India ocean colliding with the Antlantic... But we couldn't, it was just peaceful seas.

Cape Town was also the location of several of the matches of the FIFA World Cup including a semi-final. They built a huge stadium called Green Point Stadium that has 70000 seats. I remember the stadium well, because it was the aspirations of some of my friends to be able to go into it and play some soccer themselves. 

Google stock; Green Point Stadium.



I think you can probably see why I loved Cape Town so much. It has a little of everything, and is un-ending. I've even heard Cape Town comparied to Rio De Janero, and I can see why.

Mini bus nightmare

I was in Tofo Mozambique, and after a few weeks of scuba diving, hanging out on the beach and eating lobster, I decided it was time to get on down the road. After about 30 hours of hitchhiking, and taking a few long bus journeys, I found myself in a sweltering place called Tete. I was very near the Mozambique/Malawi border, and wanted to make it before night so I didn't have to stay in this town. I finally found a mini bus going to the border and climbed in. This would be my first mini bus nightmare. Bus drivers in Africa do not leave until the whole bus is completely full, and they will not deny anyone a ride, hoping to make more money. I had experienced this before, but not to this extreme. I was seated in the first row behind the driver, which is usually the most roomy place to be, due to the little step in front of you to put your feet. This time however, this little step had four more people sitting on it, facing backwards. I was crammed up against the window, with two old ladies right in front of me, staring at me and obviously talking about me openly, then another guy crammed up against me to my left, with a kid of around eight sitting on his lap. If that wasn't enough, this kid had two live chickens in his hands, hung upside down by their legs, flapping wildly at times, beating my face with their wing, and launching feather all over the place. Then, due to there being no room for baggage, the driver opened the window I was crammed against and shoved my bag through and onto my lap. Now I was being stared at, talked about, chicken smacked, squawked at, crammed, deprived of leg room, and violated all while having a 50 lb bag on my lap, and my knees to my chest. The thing that finally did me in was when the driver put about five water bottles full of gasoline under my seat as spares. They were obviously leaking making the whole bus unbearably fumigated. Even the fact that the big sliding door would not shut , due to people hanging out of the opening and holding onto the luggage rack on the roof, didn't help air out the bus. A bus meant for ten people, now held 28 plus two chickens and a load of gas.
Finally, about an hour into the ride, when both of my legs where completely asleep, one of my sandals was missing and some guy behind me was resting his hands on my shoulders, I asked someone how much further to the border. When the answer came, and it was two more hours, I told my self I just wasn't going to make it. The very next time that the bus stopped to let someone out, I made everyone in my row get out also, to let me the hell off. When I finally disembarked the vehicle of death, I realized I was in the middle of no where, somewhere a couple hours from Malawi. I didn't give a damn. Against many protests from the driver, him telling me that there was no where to go, and I would probably die, I finally got half my money back and started walking.
When the bus finally left be, I looked around and wondered very seriously if I had made a bad mistake. As I was walking down the road, five kids around the age of 20 came running out of the jungle, clearly drunk out of their minds, wielding machetes. I had no idea what the hell they were doing and it scared me out of my mind for about a minute, seeing them running my direction with machetes, yelling and laughing. I was sure not to show my fear, and acted like I was from around those part. I walked towards one of them and extended my hand to shake his, and surprisingly to me, and I think him too, he took my hand and shook it. My actions definitely had them puzzled, and they were no longer laughing, yelling or anything, just standing in a circle around me in the street and starring in bewilderment at the crazy white boy walking down a road in the middle of nowhere in Mozambique. Eventually I just pushed one aside and started walking again, while they followed along, talking to each other in Swahili, probably trying to decide what to do about me. About a minute later I seen a truck coming, and knew I had to get on it. I practically stepped out in front of it, but it stopped. I jumped in the bed, and it took off, just as a beer bottle came hurling by my head. More rocks and bottles were flung in my direction, but I was safely on my way to the border. The funny thing was that we even passed up the bus I had been on, and they honked and waved as the crazy white boy in the back of a truck sped past.

Backpacker's Haven

Vang Vieng. What can I say about the place? A friend back home was doing some reading about the place I was in and read "If the world was ruled by teenagers, it would look something like Vang Vieng." Well, can't argue with that. A town where a bottle of Tiger whiskey is cheaper than either a bottle of water or Coke, and drugs like opium, marijuana and mushrooms are easily obtained at any bar, is just what party goers wish for. Not only does the town never sleep, it seems the whole place is set up just for the crazy westerners, wanting to go on the binge, all the way from bars on every corner with no drinking age, year round river tubing, with bars lining the river that you float up to, cheap mix drinks that can be bought by the bucket, and even the sandwich makers on every sidewalk, every street, ready to feed the drunks. Whiskey is so cheap that at any bar on either the streets or the river will have a platter of free shots waiting for you as you step in, usually with a cute girl there assuring you that you need yet another shot. At what some of us came to call the "pshycadelic" bars, signs advertising happy shakes, weed pizzas, and hash brownies are intermittent with the drinking bars. You walk in, order your poison, and they roll a joint for you and your friends on the spot. These are usually the quiet bars, where the pot heads can regularly be seen sitting on the big pillow lounge platforms, maybe chatting, maybe just staring at the crazy graffiti walls, lights low, Jimmi Hendrix music soft. It seems the town has something for everyone. I haven't even mentioned the hookers, pool tournaments, shopping or any of those kinds of things.


Vang Vieng is great, everyday like an intensified spring break in Cancun, but five days there is definitely enough. Take it from someone that was there 13 days, and not only seen a lot of bad things, but felt like I needed a detox session after day 4. Every morning I would wake up shaky and swearing I would never drink again, but night comes around, and your worries are forgotten. It wasn't only the great amounts of vodka or whiskey buckets, free shots and Beer Lao I managed to consumed, it was also the M-150 they mix into the bucket drinks. M-150 is what I would call Red bull's evil little brother. It is illegal in the States, as it is more potent and unhealthy than red bull. One guy even told me it had some of the same ingredients as speed. When ever you ordered a vodka/red bull bucket, they would give you a half bottle of cheap vodka, and two or three bottles of M-150. It tastes really good actually, but after about three or four buckets, it takes it's toll. Do that everyday for a week, and that's just asking for a heart attack. I added up the drinks and came up with something like 80 bottles of M-150 in 13 days. That's bad, but I was a relatively moderate drinker compared to a lot of the people I met. At the time I figured, Eh, it's a vacation from my vacation, a break from constant travel, time to let loose. Well I'm glad it's over.
After a while I started seeing a dark side to Vang; the crooked cops. The first incident was when a friend of mine was handed a joint by a "undercover" cop, while walking from bar to bar. When he took a puff, cops walked up and arrested him. They took him to jail and beat the hell out of him, billy clubs and all. Then they took him to his guesthouse and forced him to get his credit card, then took him to the ATM and with threats of imprisonment and more beatings, made him withdrawal five million kip, about $600. I figured this was an isolated incident, but then people started showing up with very similar stories.

Then one night, a guy from our guest house overdosed on heroin and died. A friend of mine and another guy tried reviving him for 45 minutes to no avail, after hearing screams from the guys girlfriend. The owner had called an ambulance, and even though the town is tiny, it took an hour to get there. Then when they did get there, they would do nothing. The two guys carried the body them selves, army style, down the stairs and to the ambulance. Still no one would help, and they had to open the doors them selves and get him in. By this time, the police showed up and search the guys pockets, where they found some pills and a needle. Then they went to the guys room and found huge quantities of drug. They went back down, arrested the two guys that tried saving him, figuring it was their drugs too, even though they weren't even staying with him or anything. The dead guy's girlfriend had long ago taken her stuff and ditched, never to return to pay the room bill. There was a general outcry going on right about then, needless to say. Later, I saw the guys, a little bruised, and very run down and depressed looking, and they said they had to come up with around $2500 each, or were spending life in prison. That's a big leap, but all the cops care about is money. A collection was made, and eventually money was sent from home, and they were "pardoned", but by then we were all sick of the place, and about six of us took the bus to Vientiane the next day.
To the non-partyer, Vang Vieng is actually a huge recreational area. The surrounding cliffs have enough rock climbing areas to keep a climber busy for months. There is lots of opportunities for kayaking and canoeing, and there's even some fishing going on. Down the road some, there is the blue lagoon, with a small waterfall, that people can rope swing into, and swim in. Mountain bikes can be rented, and trips made to the mountains or river. Tour operators even offer hot-air balloon rides, offering some of the best photography I'm sure, as the area is immensely beautiful. So all in all, I had a great time here, albeit a crazy one. It is definitely the place to see in Laos, and I even heard it described as the party town of Asia, something I can definitely attest to.
　
　

　

Savannakhet to Vientiane

Leaving Savannakhet

So far, on my epic journey, I have come across a lot of good luck. I had mentioned in previous posts that I was very lucky when it came to having my own rows in buses or planes, lucky for never getting sick, robbed, or jumped, as many fellow travelers around me did, hell, just plain lucky to be doing this trip in the first place. Well this week my luck hasn't changed a bit. When Joelee and I decided to go buy our bus tickets to Vientiane, it was a whole lot of hassle. The first counter girl we asked for prices rudely said "no bus today" then turned around to watch the t.v. We weren't even asking about buses for that day. So we walked to the next window to try our luck with ticket girl #2. This girl was at least as rude, and I had to let Joe do the talking so I didn't have to apply the ol strangle hold. As she was doing the talking, other rude locals would just walk straight up, nudge their way in front of her, and start talking over her. Making it even more frustrating was the fact that the ticket girl would stop paying attention to us, and help the louder customer, rolling her eyes at the annoying westerners. But, after me telling a guy to beat it, and fending off others, even to the point of getting a little pushy, and Joe doing the negotiating, we got our tickets.

Unfortunately the sleeper bus that we wanted was booked, so we had to take the dreaded sitting up bus for the 10 hour journey. To make matters worse, other travelers were constantly complaining about the cruddy roads in Laos, making our up coming, sitting up journey a dreadful thought. Before any of you start saying "so where does this supposedly good luck kick in", well I'm getting there.

The only ticket we could get had us leaving at 9:30 pm, which meant we either had to check out of our hotel at the regular time of noon and then hang around town all day with our luggage, or we could just leave around 8, and hope they wouldn't charge us for another night. Well, you guessed it, we took a gamble (my idea, not Joe's) and it paid off. when I went in to tell them we were leaving, and would like to pay for the night before, they didn't say a word about the very late check out. Next piece of luck kicks in as we disembark from the tuk tuk at the bus station and a guy checks our tickets. When we ask him what bus it was, he kinda just smirked as if to say "the one all rich foreigners take, stupid" and pointed to the right bus and said simply "VIP". VIP was right. We gazed in delight at the biggest bus that I've ever seen or ridden in. It was a two story, reclining seat, AC equipped, t.v wielding mega bus, easily twice the size of the sleepers we've ridden in. When we got on, we were also delighted to see that the chairs reclined so far back that it was almost flat. The only way this can work however, was for everyone to lay back, otherwise the person in front of them would be in their lap, which had this big boy a little nervous.

Luck struck again believe it or not, twice more. First thing was the seat situation. When everyone was getting situated and settled in their seats, I watched in cruel delight as the guy in front of me was struggling to get his to recline. After a while he finally gave up trying. Let me translate: The seat in front of me was the only one on the entire bus that would not recline, ironically giving the biggest dude on the bus the most room. Still not that lucky you say? Well add that to the fact that I was already sitting next to the beautiful, tiny, Joelee, that takes up no room, and well, you know what I'm saying. The second thing was when after only eight hours of travel, we were waken up and told that we were in Vientiane. We didn't feel one pot hole or hear even one blow of the horn, and the 10 hour journey was over inn 8. Now, sitting under the fan in my room at the Mixay guesthouse, I thank my lucky stars, and wonder what's next for a nomad in Laos. Maybe some river floating in Vang Vieng.