Woes of the Gastro

This marks the first day I've had to break out the severe travelers diarehha medication, a going away gift from Phonsavan. Really the only bad thing I took out of that place. I knew the ton of flies on the meat meant that restaurant we stopped at for lunch the last day was no good, but everyone else was ok with eating there and I rolled with the crowd, and now I'm peeing out of my hind end, just in case you wanted to know how bad it is. Next time I'll follow my gut instincts, for now they are in disorder. The worst thing about it is that I have to use toilet paper, as there are no bum guns in Laos...

Vang Vieng so far reminds me of a typical Thai island: a giant party scene with little of no sense of local culture in it. I made an attempt at the infamous river bars today, but my stomach and gastrointestinal problems sent me packing early. Basically everyone comes to this town to float down the river, get drunk and fly off the various rope swings at the river bar. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel good enough to make another attempt at the party thing. The scenery here is amazing, the town is surrounded by huge, forested limestone karst mountains that look surreal at sunset.