Vangvieng

The minivan ride from Luang Prabang started out just as winding as the road to Luang Prabang from Luang Nam Tha. The forested mountain scenery was always something to distract me from the constant side to side turning. After about 4 hours the road leveled out and in another hour, I arrived in Vangvieng. I knew Vangvieng was a popular place and arriving a few days before New Year, might not have been a great idea. I thought accommodation would be hard to find, so I was going to stick with the first place I found, that was reasonable. I was going to head north out of town to an Organic Farm that I heard camping was maybe possible,but as I walked there I met a German couple staying there. They warned me that there was a tubing bar (more about that later) nearby that was very loud and they didn't see anyone camping. I heeded this warning and though I would take my chances in town. I got a mototaxi to a place in the guidebook near a bunch of places, at the other end of the action in town. I went to Vilayvong (formerly Le Jardin Organic) Guesthouse and asked for a room. They had 3 types available. The cheapest, for $6, was a tiny raised bamboo bungalow with private bath amongst the garden. The room was very basic but I liked the location and the price was very right. I'll take it! I've heard of many people being kicked out of their hotel the day before new years because of reservations previously made. Hell, it's happened to before! The owner who showed me the room did not warn me of having to vacate my room anytime soon, so I thought I would be safe and I was. No kicking out for me but another couple I met staying at the hotel did get the boot. I guess the dude liked me. The room was ultrabasic, I mean just a bed and cold shower and sink, though it did have a small porch. I brought in one of my porch chairs and asked for another chair, which I got, just so I could have something besides the floor to put my stuff. The owner was friendly and accommodating.
I've found the people in Laos very friendly so far. Many people flash a big smile after you catch them staring at you or if they want you to check out the goods/food they're selling. Beside my guesthouse was the Kangaroo Sunset bar, owned by an Aussie. I went there for dinner my first night but instead of finding an Australian owner, I was surprised to find an Irish guy, Paul and his Thai girlfriend running the place. They had taken it over for a year. I had green curry and it was delicious and super spicy. I walked into the main part of town after to look for Aaron and Laura. I walked around for an hour scanning every person in every restaurant like the terminator looking for them without any luck.
Vangvieng is a small town/village in an amazing location beside a river dwarfed by scenic karst limestone mountains honeycombed with caves. That's why I was here but many other people were here just for the party. The restaurants along the main road were mostly packed. I couldn't believe how many foreigners there were here. I saw foreigners and not backpackers/travellers because some of the crowd was older and definitely not backpacking around. There is a TV bar phenomenom in Vangvieng. Many places have a TV which could be an okay thing but the problem here was that they were showing only endless reruns of Friends! Some of the them showed Family Guy which was better but none of them showed any movies, which is more of what I would have been interested in. I was glad I was staying in the other end of town were it was much quieter.