"There's nothing today? Nothing at all?"
"You can fly to Vientiane this morning at 11:15. You will be able to stay overnight there, and then connect to Luang Prabang," she offered helpfully.
Ray and I exchanged glances. Vientiane was the capital, but it wasn't our destination. Still, it would get us into Laos.
"Is there any way from Vientiane to Luang Prabang tonight?" I asked.
"Bus," she said simply. "Six hours, very scenic through the mountains. Buses leave every two hours until 8:00 PM."
Behind us, I heard familiar voices. Zara and Maddox had arrived at the counter, their cameraman trailing behind them.
Ray and I shared a look. "Book us on the Vientiane flight," Ray said, and I nodded. "Two tickets."
As the agent processed our tickets, I heard Zara asking the same questions, getting the same answers. The first two teams had clearly caught the morning flight to Luang Prabang - they'd be there hours ahead of us. Now it was a race between us and theinfluencers to see who could navigate from Vientiane to Luang Prabang fastest.
Behind us, Zara was animated, gesturing as she spoke to Maddox. "This is perfect content," I heard her say. "Adventure travel realness. Our followers are going to love this."
Ray caught my eye and smiled grimly. "Time to see if we're as good at this as we think we are."
"I hate the idea of waiting around in Vientiane overnight," I murmured to Ray as we headed back outside. "At least if we take the bus, we'll get there tonight."
"Assuming we can find the bus station and get tickets," Ray replied. "And assuming our stomachs can handle six hours of mountain roads."
Thirty minutes later, we were in the airport terminal, following signs to the domestic departures area. On the way I stopped to buy a guidebook to Laos that had a big section on Luang Prabang. Once we were settled, Maddox and Zara joined us. She had bought the same guidebook I had.
“You have any idea what they could have waiting for us?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “The book says it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. Lots of temples, traditional architecture. The clue mentioned The Golden City Temple. Gorgeous place. Very Instagram-worthy, not that I'll have time to properly photograph it."
We both looked at our books. Luang Prabang was on the Mekong River. Lots of French colonial architecture mixed with traditional Lao buildings.
“Oh, there’s a night market,” she said. “Maybe we’ll get in with enough time to get there, if that’s where the challenge is.”
“There are also tons of waterfalls in the area,” I said. "Waterfalls could mean water challenges. Swimming, maybe, or some kind of river crossing."
"Please no," Zara groaned. "Maddox is terrified of deep water. He can barely handle hotel pools."
I glanced at her partner, who had his head down and appeared to be dozing. "Really? He always seems so confident."
"That's just his on-camera persona. Off camera, he's pretty anxious about physical stuff. I'm the daredevil between us." She smiled. "People always assume it's the other way around because of how we look. That he’s the strong one and I’m petite and dainty.”
It was a reminder that we all had hidden depths, fears and strengths that didn't necessarily match our public personas.
"What about you two?" she asked. "Any weaknesses the other teams should know about?"
I laughed softly. "Ray's afraid of looking weak, so he pushes through challenges even when he should ask for help. And I overthink everything to the point of paralysis sometimes."
"Sounds like you balance each other out."
"When we're working together, yeah. When we're not..." I trailed off, not wanting to go into our marital troubles with a competitor.
"The temples could involve puzzle challenges," Zara continued, sensing my reluctance to elaborate. "Matching Buddhist symbols, arranging objects in the correct order for ceremonies. That kind of thing."
"Or physical challenges disguised as cultural ones," I added. "Like having to carry heavy offering bowls up steep temple steps, or perform some kind of traditional dance or martial art."
Ray stirred beside me, mumbling something about monkeys in his sleep. Zara giggled.
"What do you think happened to Adrienne and Fletcher and Alex and Ross?" she asked. "Think they're already doing the challenge?”
