It's On the Meter

During our time in Laos we were lucky enough to meet a group of three English guys doing one of the coolest things I have heard of. They were currently in their 7 month of driving a London taxi cab from London to Sydney! It all started a couple of years ago when they were in University, over a few pints at a local pub. It started out as a joke, but became reality with the click of the "Buy" button on Ebay. There it was...a London Taxi sitting in Paul's Parents driveway. It took about two years to plan the route, recruit sponsors, work out visas, and get the cab ready to go. Then they were off across continental Europe, through Turkey and the "Stans", into Russia, through China and down into Asia. We met them while tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos. The Taxi was heading south in Laos and down to Thailand. Lucky for us...there were two empty spots in the Taxi. We were able to jump in and hitch a ride down to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We weren't planning on leaving Vang Vieng that soon, but we couldn't pass up an opportunity to take a ride in the Taxi heading around the world!

Us with Paul, his sister, and the Taxi

Everyone who gets a ride in the cab as to leave something behind to make their mark...

After much deliberation, Leah and realized there was only one thing worthy of being left in the cab...our trip mascot, Wally the Whirling Dervish! It was very hard to part ways with him, but it was a good cause! He is now on his way to Sydney!

I had planned on meeting up with the boys again in Koh Phangnan for the Full Moon Party. I failed miserably at finding them, but did run into them by chance in the street for a few minutes! They are now in Malaysia, where they will put the Taxi on a ferry bound for Australia. They will then drive across Australia to what was supposed to be their final destination, Sydney. When I saw them, they told me the good news that one of their sponsors is now going to pay for them to ship the car to Los Angeles and make the trip across the states to NYC! They will have then driven all the way around the world! They get to go home for the month of December while the car makes its way to LA and then will start the next leg in January. So excited I might get to run into these guys again on my stomping ground! Safe travels and see you in the states boys!!

If you are interested in their trip take a look at their blog: itsonthemeter.com

French Colonial Luang Prabang

After finally deciding on our next destination, Leah and I boarded an overnight bus, along with 10 Asian businessmen, loaded with the essentials...Green Tea, Rice Vodka, and of course a Disney Princess coloring book and crayons. Which we used to entertain ourselves by book light on what we expected to be a 20 hr bus ride...

Three landslides, two nights, and 36 hours later...we had finally made it to Luang Prabang, Laos!

Clearing one of many landslides

Unidentified dinner with our busmates

The entire city of Luang Prabang is named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so it has been extremely well preserved. The French influence is very apparent throughout the city with tons of Colonial French Architecture and baquette vendors on every corner. It is also known for the over 30 temples and 500 monks within the city. It's hard not to spot many of the small bald men dressed in orange robes strolling through the streets. Leah and I spent our first day here on a "Temple Tour" making our way to a few of the major temples in town. 

 

On our walk back to the hostel for some much needed rest, I noticed some familiar faces looking back at me from across the street. After a few seconds, I realized it was Antony and Gemma, an amazing English couple I spent about a week with at Hak's House during my time volunteering in Cambodia. Nap time immediately went out the window, a catch up and reunion beers were in order!

So happy to run into them again!

 

The next day all four of us headed out to the Kuang Xi Waterfall, about an hour outside of the city. This is the biggest one in the region. There are three different levels to hike up and see. There is a rope swing from a tree into the pool of the first one, which we took advantage of a few times! The top waterfall is absolutely breathtaking, the tallest we have seen yet! Unfortunately, we took all of the pictures on Leah's camera that day, and I didn't get her pictures before we parted ways. So here are some that I found on google of what we saw and did!

The Rope Swing

That night I met up with some friends we had met and headed out for some old fashioned bowling. I was absolutely terrible, but we had a lot of fun!

Fellow American with the Bald Eagle ball

We really enjoyed our relaxing couple of days here. We needed the rest to get us ready for our next stop...Vang Vieng!!

Out of Hibernation!

I've gotten a couple of emails in the last few weeks wondering where all the blogs had gone...well I've just been too busy meeting too many amazing people and having too much fun to keep them up the last month! But I've deserted myself on the Thai Island of Koh Tao and am not allowed to leave until I've gotten them all caught up! Some be on the look out for lots more to come about my time in Laos, Northern Thailand, and the Thai Islands!!