It was my good friend Kerryn's 30th birthday on Saturday, so a group of five of us went away for the weekend. We drove 3 hours to the north of Vientiane to a little Laos style house on an island that a friend of Kerryn owns. It was a wonderful weekend getaway with loads of card games, drinking and lounging. The island is absolutely beautiful and Sunday there were wonderful rain storms.
A friend of Kerryn's owns the island (it's quite a small island) and house with his Lao wife. It's a second home for them, so they rent it out for 350,000 kip a night (just under $50). It's a beautiful traditional Lao style home with a large veranda, two simple bedrooms, an outdoor Lao style kitchen and a western bathroom.
The pictures don't really do it justice but it was an amazing escape from Vientiane for the weekend.
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| Grabbing a coffee at Joma before hitting the road. |
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| Driving in Laos is similar to a video game. There are so may motobikes, potholes, animals, children, etc. that you end up weaving and swerving constantly. It makes for stressful travel, luckily my housemate drove most of the way. |
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| Crossing the river to our little island getaway. Note the crate of BeerLao and cooler of tasty snacks. |
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| The arduous trek to our bungalow. In reality it was a two minute stroll through a beautifully lush tropical island. |
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| The boat ride to the island. Not quite an optimally shaped boat for the purpose but it did the trick. |
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| We weren't sure quite what to expect, but I think the house and island pleasantly surprised everyone. |
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| Happy to have arrived. About time for a celebratory Pimm's and 7up....a new favorite drink. |
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| Popping the champagne for Kerryn's 30th Birthday!! |
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| Toasting Kerryn for 30 years of life! |
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| Shish kebabs for dinner. Yum! |
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| I got the job of chef/bbq master. Not my forte but I think I pulled it off quite well, given the kitchen I had to work with. |
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| Sitting down to a tasty dinner. |
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| The surroundings were amazing, even covered in clouds. |
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| Vientiane doesn't have much in the way of greenery so this island was incredible. |
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| The limestone castes are just amazing. |
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| The Beer Lao wind chime was already there, we just added the birthday balloons. |
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| Lazy Sunday lounging. |
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| Some serious gaming going on. |
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| A little frustration at our inability to get the tent back into it's container. |
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| A pair of sweet little puppies who adopted us. |
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| The caretaker's little girl. What a doll! |
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| Corn shucking time. |
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| Hard to believe this is where I live....I guess I don't get to see this part of it most days. |
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