Vang Vieng, Laos

Having completed the overnight VIP bus journey to Laos, I was quite surprised how pleasant it was. Mind you I did have the seat next to me free, the advantages of not spraying deodorant!! Having crossed the Friendship Bridge from Thailand to Laos, I arrived in Vientiane the capital of Laos, but I decided to stay on the bus and to go Vang Vieng, since the capital had very little to offer. I immediately noticed that Laos was a very poor country and things were cheaper here than in Thailand. I checked into Vang Vieng guesthouse, where I was paying 40,000 kip per night for a double and a fanned room, approx 20,000 kip in equivalent to 1 pound.

Vang Vieng is famous for one thing and that is Tubing. Tubing is basically sitting in a rubber dingy and floating down the Mekong River. It doesn’t sound too exciting but I forgot to mention along the river the locals have set up some huts that sell alcohol. As you float down the river, the locals hold bamboo sticks out for you to grab onto and they pull you into their so called bar. Suddenly Tubing sounds exciting, the idea of floating down the Mekong River and getting pissed!! This is exactly what I did the next day in Vang Vieng.

So I started at 10am, without even having breakfast I had my first BeerLao. Cold BeerLao is what the locals love to shout out and sell. They think its the solution to everything.

Whilst tubing I met this Japanese guy and a couple of Kiwi girls. As we floated down the river a few of the local children jumped into the river and brought us into their family hut and buy some alcohol.

I bought another BeerLao, and at most places when you buy a drink they give you a free shot of local whiskey. Having tasted it, I now know why it was free, 80% alcohol proof, disgusting!! I’m sure after 3 or 4 shots I would have been KO’d, so I only stuck to 2 shots!!

At some huts you can use a zip-line and jump into the river, added excitement value. Exciting but dangerous because some of the jumps are high up and the river levels are quite low, so you could see the rocks, Ouch!! Nevertheless, making sure the Japanese guy went before me I did a couple of zip line jumps into the river which was good fun. The second jump I did was dangerous because if you let go of the zip-line to early you land on rocks, so I needed to make sure I got past the shallow part of the river!! Not a good combination, drinking and jumping. I suppose its better than drinking and driving!!

Towards the end, the river was really shallow and the rocks could be seen. The tube was getting stuck and the rocks started grazing your arse!! Having spent about 6hrs on the river, tubing, drinking, and getting my arse grazed we decided to take the Tuk Tuk back to town.

I had a wicked time, something different and definitely up there with the best things I’ve done on my travels. Now I can see why people stay here for 4/5 days, because they go tubing everyday!!