Vang Vieng

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Vang Vieng, 7th - 9th May 2010

The bus to Vang Vien took around 4 hours and wasn’t too bad apart from half way through the journey blood from all the packages of raw meat the bus was carrying started to leak through onto the floor and then onto our flip flops making the bus smell like a butchers. Vang Vien was a very touristy area with the main attraction being tubing down the river. We shared a tuk tuk with an Aussie couple to the town centre. We had a fruit shake and then Doddy went on a rekey to find a hotel room whilst I waited with the bags. Five minutes later he had returned and we checked into our guest house.

We ate at a local restaurant where I thought I would try the local speciality papaya salad but it turned out to be way too spicy for me. As we left we saw a bowl full of small frogs left out to dry in the sun, another local speciality, but not one that I tried! We then hired a moped so we could explore a bit more of the area and visit some of the caves we had read about in the Lonely Planet. We set off feeling like right little intrepid travellers as we crossed the rickety bamboo bridge. After passing a few makeshift signs for caves we decided to follow one that would take us to Jinlay Cave. The path took us off the main (gravel) road through a big paddy field where when we reached the end we were greeted by two Laotian guys who were charging an entrance fee of 10,000 kip each. We managed to barter them down to 5,000 kip each. Once that was sorted they then said we needed a torch and as we hadn’t brought one that would be another 10,000 kip, we again managed to barter that down to 5,000 kip.

It took about 10 minutes to walk to the cave which when we got there was pretty disappointing so after a few minutes we turned around and walked back again feeling a little disgruntled. We drove back through the paddy field and joined the main road where another couple were about to go and see the cave we had just visited. They had already seen one cave and had the same disappointing experience as us so they decided to give it a miss and to come with us to try and find somewhere you could swim. Stopping off to buy some water we asked the shop owner if there was a swimming spot and he said there was a blue lagoon 6kms away. It turned out the blue lagoon is the main cave and swimming spot but all the people who have land along the road leading up to it advertise their “caves” and charge people to visit them. It also turns out that they cipher petrol too as we and the other couple realised after visiting the separate caves we both had fuel missing. Anyway, we soon got over that and carried on the 6kms to the blue lagoon and when we got there we were glad to have made the effort.

It was beautiful, the water was a turquoise blue and really very cold and refreshing to swim in. We played on the rope swing and then just chilled out thinking “ooh isn’t this lovely!” On our way back we took a detour through some of the little villages, everyone was smiling and happy and greeted us with a wave and sabaidee (hello). It seemed they had a simple yet happy existence, with huts made from bamboo and chicken, cats and dogs all roaming the streets and the children playing games in small groups on the side of the road and playing in the river. It was like stepping back in time and we both agreed it would be a great place to grow up as a child.
After dropping the bike back we had a couple of fruit shakes whilst watching the sun go down. As it did the sky got blacker as another storm was brewing. Before we knew it the winds were blowing and the thunder and lightning had begun. The cafe soon pulled down their metal shutters and we retreated inside. The rain held off long enough for us to get back to the hotel.

Whilst getting ready to go out for dinner there was a loud crack of thunder followed by a power cut and the whole town was plunged into darkness. We watched the impressive thunder storm for about half an hour but with no improvements on the power front and our tummies rumbling we decided to head out and see if anywhere was cooking with gas. Sure enough we found somewhere and enjoyed a nice candlelit meal. We walked back (stopping off for a banana pancake) and observed everyone watching Friends and Family Guy that was being shown on T.V screens in all the bars. It was very strange, all day every day the bars showed repeats of Friends and Family Guy and there was always at least 10 westerners sat watching as if there was nothing better to do. It felt to me as if we had been stranded in the town for a week due to a bus strike or something and the bars had thought “I know what we will do to keep them entertained, we’ll show re runs of Friends!)” Except we hadn’t and people were just quite happy to spend their time watching T.V. Bizarre if you ask me! We went to bed looking forward to our day of tubing that we had planned for the following day.

Doddy writing now...

We arose next morning ready for our day’s event which consisted of floating down stream in the local river, stopping off at bars along the route. Probably not the safest activity but we thought in moderation it would be fine, plus word had you can’t go to Vang Vien without going tubing! So having had a late breakfast we collected our inner tubes from the local hire an inner tube shop, threw it on top of a tuk tuk with a few others and headed to the river.

We were expecting to have a pretty rough ride down the river as we’d seen a few people hobbling around the town with bumps and bruises which we assumed were gained from scraping the rock through heavy rapids, but we were soon to find out that in fact the injuries were mainly due to rope swings and rather precarious water slides. We arrived at the river’s edge with tubes in hand to be faced with loud music, lots of people and an array of rope swings, trapezes and bars at various points down stream. This was definitely a party scene to which we were very quickly about to become involved in!

So, a bucket of mojito later and a warm up on a rope swing that threw you off like a rag doll, we climbed into our rings and began to float down stream along with the Aussie couple we had met up with again and a couple from New Zealand. We must have gone all but 100m pleasantly floating down stream before stopping at our next bar where more drinks were consumed to help the day along, which they did in approximately 15 minutes, as we found ourselves having a game of tug of war over a large mud pool which consequently Bowks’s team went in face first much to my great enjoyment! After a spot of mud volleyball Bowks and I felt it was time to size up our next rope swing climbing onto another large swing trapeze which under normal circumstances would have been scary at a water park never mind climbing a rickety wooden ladder! But we did it and then did it again and it was brilliant!

Back into the inner tubes and we floated on once more stopping at a few other places along route before finally finishing at the last bar which had not only had the mother of all trapeze swings but also a rather dodgy looking water slide and made from concrete and tiles, that was shaped much like a ski jump but the ending not as smooth by any accounts. We got a drink and watched as people swung off the huge trapeze (probably 7m above the water at lowest point) and also people flying off in rather undignified fashion off the water slide ski ramp. Having finished giggling at others we decided it was our turn to return the favour. I went first and had a go on the water side flying off the end at supersonic speed, then Bowks and I scaled the giant trapeze with Bowks insisting on the way up that she would like to go first. It was fine by me as we reached the top and realised just how high it was. (I always find it slightly annoying when it looks so much easier from the floor!) Suddenly Bowks wasn’t so eager to go first, yet within seconds she was flying through the air screaming her head off and holding off for dear life before landing with one almighty splash. I followed and again enjoyed every minute of it. By the time I got back to the bank Bowks was nowhere to be seen and then I heard that familiar yell of half terror half joy and turned around to see her swinging through the air again, she’d got straight off and gone and had another go except her arms weren’t quite so strong and she didn’t even complete the first swing before flying into the water at bolt neck speed only to reappear at the surface a couple of seconds later looking a little shelled shocked but smiling, I in the meantime was howling with laughter and I think I will do every time I think about it from this day forth.

Having myself had a couple more turns on the trapeze we finally decided to stop whilst we were both still in one piece and floated the remainder of the way down stream with the Aussies. Even though the entire stretch of the river we floated down was probably only about ¾ mile it was ¾ of a mile of great fun!

We caught tuk tuk back to town with Daniel and Sally the Aussie couple we’d been with for the day and decided we’d meet up for food and a couple more drinks. So after returning inner tubes and a quick shower we met up with Daniel and Sally and went and ate before going to a bar on the opposite of the river that was called The Bucket Bar which as you can probably gather we purchased a couple of buckets of mojitos then proceeded to dance our socks off and then ate once again this time choosing pancakes and a chicken and cheese baguettes before going to bed and falling asleep.

Next morning we woke remarkably sprightly, head felt good, legs felt good, arms a different matter altogether, they ached, Bowks struggled even to pick up a bottle of water. Our arms from all our rope swing shenanigans the day before were now paying the price. We got up and went to a little cafe to get some brunch and whilst chatting and giggling about the tubing fun we saw some children run past with huge rockets in their hands, then we saw a truck parked opposite with a giant rocket on the back and Laos people gathered around drinking and singing songs. It was the day of the annual rocket festival. A day when locals have a big festival and let off their home made rockets, a tradition to help break the clouds and send the rains, beginning their rainy season. We had read about the rocket festival held in different towns across Laos between the 6th and the 9th May and were hoping we would get to see a bit and our luck was in.

As the morning progressed the vibe around the town was growing, so keen to check the festival out we quickly returned back to the guest house to pack our bags and check out as we were leaving later that afternoon. We then walked down to the river bank where the festival was about to get under way. It was great, there were a couple of basic old-school merry go rounds, a band playing on the stage, some little stalls selling food and nearly every child in sight playing in the river. They had 3 stands erected for the varying sizes of rockets to be let off and then a judges’ panel. We watched as we saw both children and adults comparing sizes of rockets, some really quite basic, others painted and decorated in bright colours and fabrics. We watched as they attached them individually to the appropriate sized stand, light it before running back then watching as the rocket shot up into the sky, then they all danced and cheered.
As time passed we became aware that we had to catch our onward bus north to Luan Pranbang at 2pm, so left the rocket festival in full swing and set off back to collect our bags, stopping briefly to buy a South East Asia speciality ‘sticky rice’ which came prepared in a piece of bamboo cane. We picked up our bags from the guest house and then after a short wait we loaded ourselves into a tiny mini -van along with 9 others (2 of which turned out to be the Aussie couple Dan and Sally) and began what was to be a bum breaking 6 hour journey, sitting with our knees up to our chins with yet again another driver trying to beat the world speed record over mountainous territory.

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