Wow! It's Lao 11 - Phonsavan to Vang Vieng

Bringing it on home here in the final stages of the Lao journey. After a day of rest in Phonsavan, it was time for the longest leg of the journey, still just a modest 234 kilometers. I thought it might be boring, being in the heart of the country, not that far from the capital.

Something in me thought that you had to head to edges of a country to find it's most scenic places.

Not so! All of land-locked Laos is a hilly country and this part was no different. Simply amazing landscape. 

My routine on the motorbike was the same throughout the whole journey. Ride for 60 to 90 minutes, then take a 15 minute break.

I found lots of little restaurants and resting places between towns in this otherwise lightly-populated country. 

At first glance, dog or cow? 

The town of Vang Vieng was not on my original plan. My Vientiane guide suggested my final route, and I was not disappointed.

Just outside Vang Vieng

See, Vang Vieng has a bad reputation, at least for anyone 30+. Back in the day, this was a backpacker haven - a place for drunken gap-year travelers to flout local customs and be a bunch of besotted boobs. After a bunch of tourist deaths, the gov't cleaned things up.

The Lao backpack. Strap a basket on  your back.

I remember a friend, Anthony, telling me about Lao before I went there. He told the story of locals running down the street, waving bags of marijuana in the air, trying to sell it to him. Well, that friend looked like a hippy. Me, nowadays, not so much. Still, I'm actually a bit disappointed that not a single offer came my way to sell me weed. Do I look that old?  

I was not disappointed by Vang Vieng. There's a good reason why a place becomes a tourist destination - in VV's case, it's the tremendous topography. 

Enjoy the video.