today we are going TUBING DOWN THE RIVER!! whoo hoo!! we are in a little town calld Vang Vieng and its really cute---set among these crazy limestone crags that just jet up into the sky out of no where. the terrain here is freakin amazing, we had a seven hour bus ride yesterday and i couldnt sleep a wink because we just kept passing the most amazing stuff. winding through these mountains we would come to a steep drop on both sides, and there set against the incline would be a little bamboo village, the kids all out in front of the houses playing or washing, the women beating these grass bundles im still not sure what they were for, but we saw a huge truck loading them up farther down the hill--maybe they are what they make brooms out of??). The people are so beautiful and I could just imagine them living their lives out on the mountains, among that amazing scenery, not realizing how rare it is. the geology was so extreme, i wonder what has been happening here? two tectonic plates coming together or what? someone look that up will ya (tito)? we spent our last night in luang prabong out with a bunch of people that we met on the boats and in pai and chiang mai--its great to have a group of friends that we keep traveling with--and went bowling until 3 or 4 am. funny how i am so competative and yet love bowling even when i suck. Josh, this 30-something amazing slide guitarist/blues singer from SF that performed at the place we stayed at in Pai even came, though he left his guitar in thailand--bummer! last night we ate at a place along the river with a bonfire. we had GREAT chicken curry soup with these two local laos girls and one annoying swedish dude that just talked about himself and his hippie beliefs. he was very excited about all of it, but me and sarah were all yeah, dude, we've known about that shit for years. get off it. aaaanyways some pics finally workd so i've cought you up with a few river photos. try again later. love!!!