Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I give thanks that I haven't needed the traveler's insurance I never got. It's my second holiday away and it's these days that make me a bit homesick. I wish you all a very happy one... my heart and tummy will be with you. I am spending my Turkey day sans turkey here in Vang Vieng, a small town north of the Laotian capital of Vientiane. I passed my evening watching Kill Bill and eating tofu red curry and Laotian beef stew with sticky rice after a dusty and uncomfortable three-hour ride on a saungthauw (an open truck with two bench seats facing each other) from Vientiane. During the ride, we'd stop for new passengers and women would wave and poke us with baguettes and kabobs with tiny fried whole chicks (!) in an effort to make a sale.

The overnight train ride to Vientiane from Bangkok was excellent-- drinking, laughing and card playing in the dining car with various travelers we'd met along the way. We had the added amusement of a lady-boy waitress and a group of Aussies forcing her to play their Coldplay CD. I taught Tyler to play Shithead only five minutes later to have a very drunk Aussie re-teach him with his far superior set of rules. :) Slept well after listening to some music. Ben and Greg if you're out there, I am in dire need of a break-fix and have found some solace in the MP3 sets of yours I brought along.

Vientiene was nothing special, which we'd heard was the case from some other travelers. We hit all the city's few highlights in one day, including watching the sunset and drinking Beer Lao at a beer garden on the edge of the Mekong River. Laos is a former French colony so they drive on the right and have some of the best bread and coffee in the world, which I've been consuming at an alarming rate. Oddly enough, between Thai iced coffee and Lao hot coffee, I am more of a caffeine addict than I ever was while working full time.

The town of Vang Vieng is quaint and lovely. It's situated right along the Mekong at an elevation of roughly 1000 feet surrounded by dramatic cliffs and caves that remind me a bit of Krabi (but no beach this time). Despite its popularity with travelers, the town is still quite undeveloped, with only one internet cafe and no 7-11s (they are everywhere I tell you). The nights are cool with the first chill in the air I've felt since Japan. No plan at the moment- we'll be here for a few days. Gobble gobble!