Back from Laos, and not dead in Bangkok!

Hello all!!
Sorry it has been a while since I’ve updated…this may get a little long. I know many of you are worried about me over here with the whole situation in Thailand…just know I am safe and far from the mayhem! Apparently there are mass protesters of the government who have shut down the airports so nobody can get in or out. Many people think there is going to be a coup, and many predict bloodshed. I was in Bangkok this morning, and everything seemed normal, though I was far from the airport. I am staying far away from everything…so don’t lose any sleep over me!
When I left for Laos, the country was a bit more relaxed…none of this had started. In fact, most of Thailand was in mourning over the death of the princess. She was having a 6 day funeral. Apparently she died over a year ago, but they are just now cremating her. A lot of people came to Bangkok to pay respects and the whole country shut down and had a curfew during this time. I guess when she died last year, every Thai person had to wear black for a whole month. Anyway, as soon as her ceremony was over…this whole mayhem began!
Aside from all this, Laos was GREAT! It was such a different experience from Thailand. It is so rural and nowhere near as fast paced…in comparison it makes Thailand seem futuristic. As I mentioned before, we flew from Chiang Mai into Luang Prabang, in the north of Laos, because Scott and I had food poisoning. This was a GREAT decision because we avoided a 12 hour bus ride!
Luang Prabang was gorgeous. Laos still has a lot of French influence, so there is French Colonial architecture set amongst the backdrop of Asian jungle. We hiked to this AMAZING waterfall. At the bottom there were pools of turquoise water to swim in, and smaller falls to jump off of into the pools. As you hiked higher the waterfall became spectacularly tall. We climbed all the way to the top, and it was breathtaking, though somewhat steep and intense of a climb!
Luang Probing (and most of Laos) has a 11:30 pm curfew. All of the bars close, and everyone heads to…the bowling alley (not joking)!! We actually did some bowling, which was fun! The next day, we did a walking tour of the city using our guidebooks. This culminated in a sunset climb to the highest temple in Luang Prabang, which gave an incredible view of the city! Laos is known for its French baguettes (of which I ate about a million because theres no bread in Thailand). Dad you would have flipped your lid at this bread...it was so fluffy and delicious and often they use it to make awesome sandwiches on the street!! They were delicious, and so was Lao coffee!
After Luang Prabang, we took an 8 hour bus ride down to Vang Vieng in the center of the country. This bus ride was horrific. It was on dirt roads, covered in rocks, winding around mountains....a very bumpy ride! At one point I awoke to find a woman sitting next to me with a chicken sitting on her lap. Yes…I rode on a bus with a live chicken…only in Asia!!
Vang Vieng was amazing. The Mekong river is surrounded by limestone cliffs, that look unreal. We floated in tubes down the river, which had makeshift bars alongside that pull you in. At these bars, there are ziplines, swings, epic water slides, and trapezes that fling you into the water. They are SCARY but fun! I actually got pretty banged up on one of the water slides…I have huge bruises and gashes on my back and legs, but it was worth it!
We also visited the caves in Vang Vieng where the Chinese used to hide during the war. We climbed pretty far through them with a tiny flashlight, until we all got a little scared.
We hopped another bus (only 6 hours this time ughhhh) to Vientiene, the capitol of Laos. It was a gorgeous city with beautiful temples and an unfinished Arc de Triumph, which we climbed up to see the whole city. Apparently they started building it, and then due to the turbulent history had to give up. Now from far away it looks gorgeous, but up close is basically a well formed slab of concrete.
We left Vientiene and crossed the “friendship bridge” into Thailand, where we got on an all night train. Luckily this time we had sleeper cars and got to lay down. We arrived in Bangkok this morning, and took a bus back to Ban Phe where we immediately started training to start teaching on Monday, but the internet still isn’t up to par here and we could not even train. There have also been a few issues with my work permit here. Allegedly the province we are teaching in needs extra paperwork, of which they neglected to inform us of until now. So I may not be able to start teaching but I have a meeting with the boss tomorrow at which I am going to tell him I need to start working because I am going broke…and also that they need to move me out of the shithole TEFL school (sorry about the language mom, but I came back to find ants all over my bath towel and bed…and no working electricity in my room. Not to mention it’s a cold shower and rather dirty anyway). Basically I am not being nice anymore, and they WILL be paying me, fixing my work permit, and moving me out of here, and I am NOT taking no for an answer (can you tell I am about ready to burn down the TEFL office?). The internet SHOULD be ok for us to teach by Wednesday, and if not I have to go to Bangkok for a couple days to teach from there (worst case scenario), but don’t worry I will stay FAR from the airports, and TEFL will be funding that little adventure!
Traveling with the boys was fun, but after 2 weeks I have about had it with burps, farts, wrestling, and dumb man jokes. In all fairness they got me doing it too…but it feels good to be back!!
I have added pictures from Chiang Mai and Laos:

Chiang Mai:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015632&l=bdc19&id=83901952

Laos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015633&l=282e0&id=83901952

Thats it for now...and seriously, I am FINE here in Thailand (mom), and am nowhere near the upcoming bloodshed!! LOVE YOU ALL! Thank you to everyone who sent me mail too! It was SO nice to come back to letter in English! It made my day!!