the shan1 shui3 of vang vieng

its gorgeous here. fantastic scenery. it's like guilin, except with way way above 7 degrees C temperature. and lots more rain. but every bit as beautiful. Staying in a nice place a bit away from the main tourist guesthouse strips. It has a nice garden and the most butterflies i've ever seen in laos, which is to say a bloody lot, cos butterflies are everywhere here. The owner's an interesting brit who has been here 5 yrs(?) and loves his plants and flowers and butterflies.

travelling w edlyn and her cousin is rather different from the kind of travelling i'd been doing... it's not just that i'm living in better (and more expensive, though it often works out to be cheaper when shared among 3 ppl) conditions.. it's everything i guess... and being with a group of people means i don't have as much contact w the locals or even with other travellers as i would like or have had, and i seem to smile less and get irritated more.... guess it just takes some getting used to... not sure what it'll be like when we meet jason.. we'll see...

Vang vieng is also very touristy... i guess its inevitable now that we'll on the standard 2 week tourist trail of vientiane - vang vieng - luang prabang, and it can\t be hapled cos i had to fit in jason edlyn etc's schedule,but i really wish i had more time to wander around the less populated parts of the country and entertain more locals who are not used to tourists rather than those who already know how to speak english and flirt w female tourists and ask for their money...

still, i cannot get over how beautiful this place is.. would like to wander around on my own a bit more.. but i guess i'm a bit well... trapped? actually feeling a bit stressed at times.. so much for finding peace and having time to think...

should be staying one more day tomorrow to see the rest of the caves we had to miss the day before when it started raining , then back to vientiane on thurs. will be meeting JS and friend on sat morning... went kayaking today. beautiful. glorious. heavenly. to be alive in such surroundings. sigh... i sit anywhere here in the countrysdie, in the rain, alone, and stone for hours...