Where In The World Is Evan?

It’s amazing how much a shower, a few hours sleep and a change of clothes can transform your view of the world. As I walked out of my hostel into the fetid air of Bangkok the horrors of the preceding day seemed a distant memory.

Before I could sit down with some breakfast and a Chang beer and make plans for the two days I had in Bangkok I needed to change some money. After having paid a small fortune for significantly overstaying my Laos visa I had a grand total of 200,000 kip (about US$20) in my wallet. Once again, however, I was to be fucked over by Lonely Planet. Nowhere in their guide book to Lao does it mention that kip cannot be changed outside of the country. Hardly a small omission when apparently this has always been the case. Realising that the only remaining money I had left was useless, I went to an ATM to withdraw some Thai baht, but this was not to be my week.

In the last year I’ve travelled through seven countries and used eight currencies but never had I been in the situation of the day before—being caught without friend or money—yet here I was facing it all over again. My withdrawal was declined.
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I arrived back in Vientiane on Saturday afternoon, en route to Bangkok, and checked into the first available hostel. Feeling pretty tired after another long cramped bus ride I rested in my room for a couple of hours before heading out to grab some dinner.

It wasn’t until after 8:00 pm that I realised that the money I’d withdrawn in Luang Prabang wasn’t going to cover my 10 hour bus ticket to Bangkok. With enough money left to indulge myself for dinner I grabbed a pizza and a couple of pints of beer at a restaurant I’d been to previously. When I’d finished I went straight back to my hostel and fell asleep almost immediately.

I woke in the early hours of the morning feeling rather nauseous. As I lay in bed contemplating getting up I farted and shat my pants. Jumping out of bed I dashed into the en suite just in time to vomit in the sink. As I sat sideways on the toilet with my head in the adjacent basin, violently erupting from both ends, I reassessed my earlier complaint that the bathroom was too small for comfort.
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After an uncomfortable bus ride through the mountains of northern Laos I finally arrived in Luang Prabang. The city itself is one of the most beautiful in South East Asia, with an intriguing mix of French and Buddhist architecture.

Having spent the whole day on the bus I managed to find a hostel before it got dark, dropped off my bag, and went for a walk to find dinner.

Due to the disaster of my last Indian meal I still had a craving for curry, so I decided to give it another go. At the Indian restaurant I ran into a few other travellers, including a Kiwi guy called Jessie.
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For those of you who’ve not spoken to me directly in the last month I have some big news… I’m finally going home!

After a two week visit to China that eventuated into 10 months, I have finally left. Presently I am in Luang Prabang, in the north of Laos, but I will be heading across the border into Thailand within a week, to fly home to Melbourne.

The last 10 months have been the happiest time of my life and I owe a great debt to all of those who helped me along the way.

For those of you who were with me from the beginning, were it not for the friendship and support that you all provided I would never have stayed in China and I would not be the person I am today. I cannot thank you all enough!
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Van Vieng is a tiny rural town, essentially comprised of two intersecting streets and an adjacent ‘highway’. Yet for those who have been there, it holds an almost mythical status. Secluded from the world, on the edge of a slow meandering river, at the foot of sheer limestone karsts, and surrounded by jungle, the setting could not be more perfect for the town’s two main attractions—tubing and drugs.

DAY 1

Arriving in town after sundown I checked into a random hotel that a guy on the bus, Scott, had recommended. He’d been staying in Van Vieng for several days, and after leaving in the morning to go to Vientiane had stayed for a total of four hours before heading straight back. As I was soon to learn, this town is hard to escape…

After dropping my stuff off in my room a group of us who’d met on the bus sat down for some dinner in a restaurant recommended by Scott. As he filled us all in on the great fun he’d been having here, the suggestion soon arose to relocate to the local drug café—where opium, marijuana and magic mushrooms are all on the menu.
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