I left Vientiane, where it turned out that a single bed could comfortably accommodate not only me but both my backpacks.
Before leaving, I managed to get a new taxi app and get a haircut.
In the taxi, the driver and I sat next to each other in silence, so I simply looked around and took pictures.
I prepared for the train ride, hoping that it would be smoother than a week ago.
Back on the train
Vientiane Railway Station was a quieter place than Luang Prabang. I didn’t have to stand in line, and the scanner didn’t swallow my bag.
I managed to order an iced, sugar-free American coffee at an Amazon cafe and use the wifi to sit down in front of my laptop.
Now I’m here, just waiting to board the express train.
So far everything has been going well, maybe I’ll finally get to the next station without any surprises?
Vang Vieng
Van Vieng is a little further north, halfway between Luang Prabang and Vientiane. So I can say that I’m going back.
This is only half true, because I have already turned the wheel of my chariot towards the next country. The penultimate settlement before Vietnam will be Van Vieng, where I will stay.
There were no surprises on the way.
I simply got on the train and got off a little over an hour later.
Taxi drivers were waiting for us in droves at the train station, but I managed to avoid them. Luckily, I found a place to stay that I knew the exact Google contact details for. So – after checking outside the station that it was only 5.5 km away – I set off on foot.
The last time I approached the town of “Mae Hongson” on foot was back in February. I didn’t want to miss this experience this time.
On the way, I thought about why I like where I live now. It was warm, the road was dusty, the sand crunched under my shoes. I left dirtier shops and restaurants one after another.
Yet – even today – I was overcome by the joy I feel when I walk through such places. Maybe it was the wind of adventure that struck me? I like this slow acquaintance with a new settlement. Which I think neither the locals nor the tourists arriving by car understand. I often saw in their eyes the confusion, the question of what someone is doing here on foot.
I wish I could tell them that I am not looking for anything. I am only curious about the road, and what forms of dust greet me here.
In the meantime, I could also stare at the high mountains that surround the city on two sides. I could notice beautiful, old houses and modern “palaces”. I was able to discover unknown car brands. I was able to wonder how some motorcycles could still work when they were apparently manufactured around World War II.
And I saw a thousand other wonders that are wonders only because I call them wonders.
It’s nice to feel that my curiosity has not diminished. Nothing is tiring. Nothing is boring. I haven’t seen anything that I’ve seen a thousand times before.
Yesterday a friend of mine said that she “often just watches how much I push my limits.” This is what I was able to answer her after a very short reflection: “I don’t even think about that. Seriously. I don’t feel like I push anything. It’s like there are no boundaries.”
I think that’s the key. Usually – on a psychological basis – we talk a lot about the limits that we set for ourselves to protect ourselves. I’ve done it before. Then I forgot to keep them, so they didn’t protect me either.
Because setting boundaries is much easier than protecting the boundary.
But the boundary – along with protecting – also closes off the “outside” world. I try not to forget this anymore, even though I haven’t instinctively thought about my boundaries for a while. Now it’s as if I have no one to protect myself from. That’s how my world has become more open.
Now I have no boundaries – neither outside nor inside.
This is my first realization in Vang Vieng.
My accommodation
My accommodation won’t protect me from anything. The first minute I held the inside of the doorknob, I could barely figure out how to lock my room. There’s a latch on the door, but the end is hanging out of nowhere, so it was funny to realize that no matter how hard I pushed it in, it was as if it wasn’t there.
My room has a wardrobe! Hallelujah. But more importantly, the table and chair I asked for were waiting there. I have a double bed, a working air conditioner, and my own bathroom.
The surprise this time is the lighting. Sometimes it shines in full brightness, but most of the time it’s just dim. It’s like a random number generator controls when it dims.
It took me a while to figure out that it’s controlled by a sound sensor. So, if I want it to be on full brightness, I just have to clap my hands. Then it goes to full brightness for exactly 30 seconds, then night mode comes on.
If I want to work at night – and I want to use light to do so – I’ll have to clap 120 times in an hour. I think after 7 nights here, my hands will be like Schwarzenegger’s.
The city
I read about Vang Vieng that tourists have taken away its true face and the locals are complaining about it. It has supposedly changed a lot in the last 10 years.
I saw signs of this change everywhere on the streets in the first two days I have been there. Lots of accommodation, in many places they lure people with the title of backpacker. Every 10 meters there is a program office, each of them has the same offer. The travel agencies are also competing with each other.
So on the first day I was faced with the fact that there are fewer restaurants than other businesses. I am not saying that it was difficult to find a suitable one, but there is little local cuisine in the city center. There is less authentic experience among the pizza places and cafes.
It seems that what I read about the city beforehand is true. There are many establishments here to serve travelers, and much less that are aimed at locals. I feel for the people living here.
I understand that locals may feel like strangers in their city. By the way, I feel like strangers more and more in places like this. I haven’t felt like a tourist in a long time, but I’m not a local anywhere either.
Fortunately, I don’t have any problems with this feeling. But this isn’t even about my city.
Despite all this, I immediately fell in love with this small town. The city center, which is a kilometer away from me, has many small streets with lots of attractions, so the walks of the first two days were very exciting.
Of course, I found a place where I could eat what I like.
Last week, I realized how much I love rice. And how much I missed it in Vientiane, where the breakfast I got with the accommodation was toasted bread (I ate it, but I would have skipped it) and scrambled eggs for a week. And in the city, a lot of people offered pasta, so I encountered less rice.
I will spend four more days here, I think there will be plenty of experiences and rice.
The city offers many programs that I am only reading about now, but I will not participate in them. Kayaking on the river, kayaking in a cave, rubber tubing down the river, mountain climbing, paramotoring and the queen is the hot air balloon ride.
These tempt me every fifty meters, but I will try these elsewhere.
Now enough of the rice and the walk. And the loneliness, because I am alone here now and it looks like I managed to find an accommodation that is far enough (1 km, LOL) from the center for me to be the only Westerner here.
The stranger who feels at home.
Meditation in the Lightning
My life is really interesting. I really like the interplay of coincidences, the way life gives me gifts.
My next post will be about meditation.
I was just finishing this post when my phone lit up and said there was a 50% chance of rain tomorrow. At that moment, I heard the sound of an approaching storm.
I immediately unplugged my laptop, practically preparing myself for the storm. I thought at that moment, but 10 seconds later I was standing there, and what came was something I was not prepared for.
The rain started pounding on the roof of my room with such force that I could hear nothing but the crazy roaring noise that only rain can make.
I felt like I had to go out into the covered porch in front of my room right away. So I did. And immediately the wind-driven rain hit my face. Even though the front yard was several meters high, the stormy wind blew rain down, not spray, but rain, and so did I.
As I was, I sat down on a crate next to the door of my room, half-naked, and watched the elemental fury of the storm. An incredible sight unfolded before me in the darkness of the night. In the light of the street lamps, the rain falling from the roof and pouring from the sky was very clearly visible. The sky was also flashing one by one.
I had already finished my meditation today, but I felt a strong call to immediately start a second one while sitting there on the crate. So – as I was, half-naked – I closed my eyes and immersed myself in concentrating on the storm.
The next 10 minutes were an incredible experience.
I only paid attention to the storm.
I felt the rain caressing my body with both spray and large drops. The wind was cold, yet I didn’t feel cold as it kept hitting me.
The rain that could be heard from all directions was very soothing despite the chaos. I’ve already mentioned on the blog that out of all the sounds from nature, I listen to rain most often while working. So the music – played by nature – was familiar, but in reality it sounded like a completely different symphony. The constantly swirling sound wave twisted my attention into an interesting spiral.
Then I saw the first lightning bolt behind my closed eyelids. It was huge, yet it seemed more friendly than scary. It was loud, yet it didn’t scare me.
I didn’t just hear the thundering sound, but I saw it moving towards the valley in the range of mountains surrounding the city. I enjoyed every moment of the peace that I had inside me despite the raging forces.
Then nature showed its true power!
The next flash of lightning did not simply appear behind my closed eyes, but became a reality in the middle of my consciousness. And the sound that followed was so terribly strong that I immediately understood how small I was in this world. A feeling was born in me that I had never experienced before.
I had seen the huge formations of the world before, seas, oceans, huge mountains, the Earth from a height of 4 km, while jumping. Yet I had never felt with this intensity what huge forces move this Earth. And how small I am in this huge world.
I kept my eyes closed the whole 10 minutes. I was not afraid, although perhaps I should have been, some of the lightning seemed so close. This storm was my friend.
I watched it pass quietly. Then, as it had to come to life again, because it wanted to show me once again who was the boss.
I didn’t have to show it to me anymore. I only need to experience this elemental power once in such a special way, and I will never forget it.
I will be here in this city for a few more days, there are still many kilometers waiting for me, I can still find anything here.
But I am sure that the most beautiful experience I will take away from Vang Vieng is already here.
Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
Buy a coffee for Steve
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