Today's one of those days where there is a lot of climbing. Long and steep hills where I just cannot crank anymore out of it. I had a good mind to drop dead and take out my USD20 bill to wave for a bus to just pull up. My mind started working against me, since I was running on my reserve energy supply – aka body fats already and the water supply was low as well. I didn't buy bottled water at the last stopover. I can literally feel myself going from high morale to low morale, as my body slowly burned itself while I was crawling up the hills. I lost count of how many there were. And all I did was just roll from one hill to the next, huffing and puffing my way up.

Most Laotian children are very friendly. They'd shout “Sabaidy!”, which means hello in their language to foreigners who are actually traveling at a slow enough speed for them to do so. It was nice for a change to meet friendly little children (quite unlike work at times). But as my mood changed while I was crawling up the hills, I wished and prayed secretly that I won't actually have to respond to any of their hellos. It was only polite for me to greet them back anyway.

Well, at least here we are at Vang Vieng. Its a touristy area where lot of foreigners come around for some adventure stuff. There's trekking, caving, kayaking and tubing. I'm going to tube tomorrow! Been looking forward to it, cos I won't have to crank or even row :) * Beam! * Just sit on one of those giant truck wheels and spin down the river! YAHOO!!!

We had been struggling with the Laotian language previously. But thanks to my discovery that the pronunciation is actually similar to Hokkien, we now have a means of communications with the locals – beginning with asking for directions to even ordering food. Not that I'd have to use this skill tonight... Now that we are in tourist wonderland.

I'm wondering how long can my legs take it on the road at this point. The mountains are getting pretty frightful. I am just praying that my physical strength would grow and I would begin to enjoy it. Fitness is VERY important for anyone to enjoy journeys like this. I thought I actually have a slightly above average fitness... Now I know I'm probably an average. Well, lets see how things go by the time we arrive at Luang Prabang – the next big town.

The good news of today came from Discovery Travel and Living. I'm in their Round 2 for the travel journalist selections! Whoopee Doo! Jason's kindly agreed to help me make up some kind of a video blog. Now if only I can brainwave something out... Especially before the damn accident. Now ugly already :( Haiz. Suggestions? Email me at themountainelf@yahoo.com ! Much appreciated people!