Planning

As mentioned earlier, Rick and I are going to Laos for a vacation. Therefore, we decided on a vacation planning meeting this evening to hash out the details.

We met up at Mike's Mexican Restaurant for dinner, and then went back to my house to get the general schedule worked out over Drambuie on the rocks. Then, we each sat down at each of my two computers and started internet surfing, to get the details.

So here we go:

We are going to take the train from Pattaya (yes... train from Pattaya) up to Nong Khai (across the Mekhong river from Vientienne), and then spend one day in Vientienne. Then, we are taking a plane (a rickety plane as opposed to a rickety bus) up to Luang Prabang.

(In case you are wondering, the rickety bus costs $4 and takes 11 hours, and the rickety plane costs $60 and takes 40 minutes. You may think that the rickety bus would be safer than the rickety plane until you get a general idea about the mountain roads, and realize that in the event of an accident, both bus and plane will be plummeting about an equal distance to the ground... and one of the vehicles is equiped with wings.)

So, we will be spending 1 day in Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (I'm not sure that any other entire fully functional cities have been declared as such by the United Nations, but if you know of one, tell me.) I'm expecting to see the most beautiful city in Southeast Asia based on the reports I have heard. Something like 1/3rd traditional Asian architechure, 1/3rd French-Asian colonial, and 1/3rd jungle.

The next day, we will be flying to the Plain of Jars, kind of the Stonehenge of Asia. The day after that we will be flying back to Vientienne for a 4 or 5 day visit. Then, it will be the train back home. Total of 9 days.

I'm really looking forward to this trip now that I've got some plans put together.