Chiang Mai Will Make You Puke It Too

Today, we crossed the Thailand border into Laos. After a great first three weeks, it feels like the country basically puked us out. Jenn ended up catching the same stomach bug I had, but instead of being in a relatively comfortable hotel with our own bathroom, she was sleeping on hard wood in the backcountry on the last night of our trek. She had an hour and half hike, waiting, and then a couple hour ride back to our hotel to endure. All the while, she couldn't hold down any fluids, while hiking through the hot sun (luckily, it was mostly downhill). She was a complete studmuffin through it all, and is on the road to recovery. Experiences like this bring us even closer.

Its funny how illness can effect your persception of a place...while sick, I decided I didn't like Thailand very much. Now that I'm feeling better, that's not true at all....I just didn't like feeling sick in Thailand. We're hoping Laos will be a little nicer to us.

Tommorrow, depending on Jenn's health, we strike out on the Gibbon Experience, which we've heard nothing but good things about. We basically will be living in tree houses for a couple of days and zip lining from place to place....awesome!

On a side note, perhaps too personal, but educational: squat toilets aren't so bad. You just have to squat like a catcher. Pardon the pun, but if you have-ass it, you miss. This comes from experience. So, next time you find yourself in Asia without a western style toilet, think "catcher". Otherwise, you may get thrown a curveball you really don't want to have to try to hit.

So, here's to Laos and our newly awarded 30 day Visas!