Arrived in Vang Vieng

Our four hour drive south from Luang Prabang offered stunning views of the mountains as we climbed above the clouds and then back down again. I think our driver was in a hurry and was going a bit fast so we had to hold on to something on occasion as we veared around corners, cows, small children crossing the road, and the occasional rock slide. We climbed in low gear up though the mountain pass where the air was cool and then back down again to the valley and village below. I don't know why the guy was in such a hurry but we eventually stopped for lunch at a small place where the driver said we had "ten minutes". We were pretty hungry by this point and I wasn't going to settle for a bag of chips for lunch. So we ordered off the menu and ten minutes later the guy sat across from us and sighed a bit while we finished our meal. On the way to our new location we were stopped by an army checkpoint where someone in uniform checked the driver's papers. Seemed odd - I have no idea why. 

We are now in our hotel in Vang Vieng with a beautiful view of the Nam Song River and the shear cliff mountains in the distance. It really is picture postcard perfect. It rained for a few minutes while we looked at the view, with the big rain drops bouncing off the river - very beautiful. 

For dinner we went a few steps down the road to a Laos and German restaurant. It was a one man restaurant owned and operated by Katz, who was born in Bangkok as second generation Chinese immigrant, lived in Germany and married there, and now serves shinitzels to tourists like us. We had a good chat after dinner and looked at his artwork on the wall. I told him it was a very good meal but we did have to wait a very long time for dinner - it was just him cooking and serving. He said he could use the help but couldn't hire anyone else, especially anyone Laotian, since they wouldn't care like him, or know anything about German cooking. He was an interesting fellow who really cared about his craft and business. We'll be back.

While we were chatting with Katz we sent the kids off to get a banana pancake at a nearby store. They has quite an adventure and ended up getting a motorcycle ride from a nearby resort down the street.