Day 83! It was a slow day today, but still another incredible day in Vang Vieng! I feel like I’m a part of a small little community where I can keep stumbling into my “neighbors.” Even though it was a slow day, I still got up to some fun things! Also, it’s pretty crazy that we’re closing in on 90 days!

After another late night, I was pretty exhausted. So I woke up at 9am for my hotels free breakfast and promptly went back to sleep for another hour!

Even though I was still tired, I woke up with the motivation to walk to the gym and do a leg day workout.

It’s been very nice to have a gym within walking distance! I’m looking forward to going over the next few days as I spend more time in this town.

I finished my first leg day in a few months and I could tell my legs were going to be sore. But that means it was a good workout!

I bought a protein shake before walking to a nearby restaurant for a nice meal of beef with basil, rice, and a fried egg! It also came with a tasty soup.

This meal was delicious but also very spicy! I was pretty ravenous after a solid workout and cleaned off my plate! I then walked back towards my hotel and on the way back I spotted Jenny, Maddie, Mitch, and Jack hanging by the Nana hostel pool!

Even though I was exhausted, I sat down to relax with them for a bit! We dove into some deep chats and also just chatted about our time so far in Vang Vieng.

Our friend Oskar showed up and said he was wanting to do a viewpoint hike sometime soon. I told him I was planning on heading to one for sunset and let him tag along!

Before we did that though, I headed back to my hotel for a shower and nap.

After my nap, I went and picked up Oskar and we went down the same road as the day before to the viewpoints! The sun was already setting and it made for a gorgeous ride.

The viewpoint was around 18 minutes away from my hotel and it took just under 15 minutes to climb to the top. So we made it just in time for the sunset to become spectacular!

The climb itself was super steep and having hit leg day earlier in the day made it that much harder.

Oskar and I sat up at the top admiring the view for just under an hour before making our way back down the steep descent. While we were up at the top, we dove into conversations about traveling, life, and other deep conversations like that. It’s very easy to connect with people on the road and it’s very interesting to learn from different peoples perspectives from all around the world!

We made it back before it got too dark and started walking to a spot for dinner that Maddie and Jenny were at.

On our way to dinner we ran into Mable from England and Dylan from Sweden. They ended up joining us to dinner!

We arrived at a restaurant I hadn’t been to yet called Green Restaurant. For whatever reason, Maddie and Jenny decided to head back to the hotel right as we arrived… but I ended up enjoying a dinner full of lively conversation with the other three!

We again dove into deep, civil conversations about life, politics, and the world currently. It was super interesting and amazing that all these different perspectives could come together and politely discuss the things going on in the world.

My friends were heading to get drinks at a bar nearby and I parted ways to call it an early night after 3 nights of minimal sleep.

But on my walk home, I of course snagged a cheap banana Nutella roti!

This was actually the messiest and crispiest one I’ve had and I think the lady who made it felt bad. So she gave me an extra banana to snack on later! I still enjoyed the yummy mess as I walked back to my room.

I didn’t end up doing much today, but the things I did do were very rewarding. Working out made me feel great, the conversations I had today were fantastic and left me energized for more, and the sunset viewpoint was incredible!

I’m looking forward to a full nights sleep and to see what adventures tomorrow holds in the fantastic little town!

– Elie