Old Hwy 13

From Vientiane we headed south in pursuit of our next big destination, Vietnam, with only one pit-stop in between, the climbing camp that our new friends Mariejke and Sabrina had told us about. With 350 kilometers ahead of us we ventured back on to trusty dusty, HWY 13.

 The sun scorched us for three days. At one point, Brant had to pull over because he felt sick from the heat. We hadn't felt this dry since Kansas.

We decided to lay low in a little village for an hour or so and let the sun set just a little before finishing the day's kilometers. We sipped cold soda water and ate sticky rice underneath the safety of shade. Locals gathered round as we pulled out the cribbage board for a needed game. An hour later the sun was much more bearable, and we ventured forward to the next little town to find a guest house for a good nights sleep with air conditioning.

On the fourth day we made it to Thakek, a large-ish town on the Mekong River. It was Thanksgiving back at home, so Brant and I stopped at a small cafe and enjoyed the blisses of modern cities: internet and espresso. We "topped up" our cell phone money and called our families. We got off the phone and dreamt about the taste of turkey, mashed potatoes, pecan pie with whipped cream, and most of all, a good glass of California red wine...

After running all of our "errands," we headed east on HWY 12 to the Green Climbers Home, only 12 kilometers away from the city. The road plunged us into the mountains we had been gazing at to the east for the last 300 kilometers. Winding around limestone towers, along a river valley, we found a little wooden sign on a dirt driveway for the climbers home. We followed the road into a small valley encased by huge spires of limestone and jungle, and here we found the little climbing oasis.

We approached the hub of the operation, a restaurant/cafe on stilts with a traditional Laos thatched roof. We had hoped that our friends were still here, but seeing as they would have been there for a week at this point, we tried to not have our hopes up. I took off my shoes and headed up the stairs to the cafe. And man was I excited to see my two friends sitting and enjoying their lunch! Sabrina and Mariejke freaked out as much as I did, and they immediately decided to stay an extra day to spend time with us.

Brant and I picked up a menu; as we scanned the delicious options, our eyes lit up. Laos just isn't the culinary meca that Thailand is, but this menu of delicious curries and mango with sticky rice looked good and was good and made our bellies happy for two days.

The girls were still here because the camp is absolute magic. An oasis for adventurous go-getters. Beyond being a climbing playground it boasts a giant cave that you can swim through. After eating, we all headed straight to the cavernous swimming hole and jumped in.

Refreshed, Brant and I set up our tent for the first time in Asia. Excited that the tent didn't smell after two months in it's bag, we got ready to climb a few routes with Mariejke and Sabrina before dark. It felt super good to climb again.

That night, over dinner, Mariejka and Sabrina taught us a new card game called "Shizam," and man-oh-man it is fun. Many hands later, Brant and I were addicted and we'll be happy to teach anyone when we go home.

The following morning the camp was in a sweet morning haze. Everyone woke and sipped coffee and read books for a good hour before heading out to the rocks. The girls lead a few climbs for all us. It was Brant's second time climbing, the first earlier this trip in Virginia with George. He kicked butt too. I am excited to climb together when we go home someday.

After our lunch break, Sabrina and Brant took the bicycles to town. Brant went to buy watermelons (literally) and Sabrina went to send an email.  And Mariejke and I went for a swim, and then headed out for two more climbs. 

In an effort to climb something a bit more challenging we asked a resident staff to lead a route for us. After climbing this route, there was no one around to lead except for us, and the climb we wanted to try was a 5C.  Mariejke didn't feel comfortable leading it. I thought about it for a second. I hadn't lead anything since I was in New Zealand. But I felt up to the task.

It was the hardest route I had ever lead. Dripping with sweat at the top, I was so excited I had challenged myself to do it. It also reminded me how nice it is to have good girlfriends and made me miss my crew of fantastic ladies. The whole experience was reminiscent of my trip to New Zealand with Danielle, Megan, Melanie, and Christy: staying at a climbing camp and nestling into a small community away from home. It all felt good.

We said goodbye to our dear friends the following morning, ate one last delicious breakfast, and packed up our mules in preparation for our last ride before reaching Vietnam. We had planned on heading further south in search of the more popular border crossing from Savanhaket, but we found out that HWY 12 was recently paved and less populated and beautiful. Perfect? So we ventured east, loving the road, the beautiful landscape, and the small villages.