I survived Vang Vieng!

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I set off from Luang Prabang on a minivan with the Danish girls for the 6 hour
journey down to the party capital of Laos, Vang Vieng. Everyone on the minivan was soon introduced and I got some gambling going by getting everyone to chuck in some cash for a pot to guess the correct arrival time. The journey was a slow one as we wound through the dramatic mountain roads of Northern and Central Laos. Steep drops off to the side down the hill sides kept me awake, as did the
seemingly endless number of overtakes performed by our driver on blind corners with nothing between us and a long drop off the side.

I can only think that the driver was trying to get us in the right frame of mind to arrive in Vang Vieng, a place where something like 22 Westerners have died in the last year while tubing, through a combination of drink, drugs and ziplining/diving/sliding into a river filled with any number of unseen large rocks. Apparently it has now got to the point where the Australian government is trying to do something to get the place closed down.

We arrived into town just after my guess, meaning I missed out on taking the pot but was happy to be on time. We shared tuk tuks into the town itself and I set about finding a guesthouse with Tom, a nice bloke from Bath that was on the minivan, who has been travelling for over a year. We managed to find one with rooms with fan, en suite and double beds for only 40,000 kip so we both got a room and then went and sat at a guesthouse over the road and had a beer overlooking 'Party Island,' which is home to a number of bars where everyone goes to drink buckets and carry on the night after tubing. The backdrop to the town is formed by a number of huge limestone mountains/karsts, which are full of caves and waterfalls.

At the time we were sat there, 2 hot air balloons came over heading towards the mountains, seemingly too low to the ground. As the sun set the scene was quite dramatic with the balloons passing in front of the sun, it was just a shame that the air was so hazy from all of the jungle/crop burning going on in the area. Haven't quite figured out if it is land management or whether they are slash and burning the jungle in order to create farmland.

We grabbed some food, which came with a free bucket (of whisky, red bull and coke) with the Danish girls and then the 4 of us headed over to the Bucket Bar on the island to see what was going on. The party was already in full swing, with plenty of mashed young people already dancing to familiar chart music after they had returned from the river. We got ourselves some buckets and got in amongst
it. Soon ran into Charlotte, with whom I had roomed in Luang Prabang and was introduced to the Canadian girls she had met on the way down. It seems that, everywhere I go there are a lot more girls travelling than there were 10 years ago.
At the bar, I discovered that there were two menus, the drinks menu and the 'special menu' which consisted of joints, mushroom shakes, opium shakes and opium pipes....I thought it best to stick to beer and whisky, particularly given that the police will fine you $500US or stick you in prison for three months
if they suspect you of any partaking in the local specialities!!

We had a few drinks, watched some fire poi and fire limbo and had a dance before calling it a night, knowing that the following day was likely to be a full day of partying. The following morning I was up early and had a wonder round the town, which has very clearly evolved only to support the activity of tubing and the parties that go with it. The streets are full of shops selling flip flops, knock of sunglasses and shorts as well as vests with either Beer Lao logos, Tubing in the Vang Vieng or I survived Vang Vieng emblazoned on them. There are also a large number of bars showing either Friends, Family Guy or South Park on repeat all day long.

Deciding not to get ourselves tubes given the high likelihood of losing them and our deposits but instead to just swim the river if required, Tom and I hired a tuk
tuk to get us up to the starting point, about 5km north of the town itself. I could tell we had arrived before I saw the river from the noise of the music pumping out from the bars. A little wooden bridge took us over the river to the first bar, where I was presented with a free shot of Lao Lao whisky and pointed in the direction of the bar to get a beer. At this point in the day most people were having a drink and chilling out by or in the river.

Moving on to the second bar we were again given a free whisky and I was pulled into a game of beer pong by one of the barmaids. We won easily and I was given a bucket for my skilled ponging. Tom spotted a group he knew and we went over to catch up. From here we had our first venture into the river, a little swim across
to a bar on the opposite side, me swimming and everyone else in tubes. The current was noticeably strong in places. Locals stood with ropes attached to
water bottles, ready to throw to people drifting by to aid them in their quest to reach the bar for yet more free shots and more buckets of spirits. By now most people were up dancing but our group tried out some of the zip lines flying out over the river to land, hopefully the right way up and avoid the rocks. The water seemed plenty deep enough though. Unfortunately at one point I forgot my sunglasses were on my head and I lost them to the river as I dived in off a wooden platform.

We carried slowly on and the bars didnt really extend passed the first few, at least most people werent going to them, prefering to stay up near the start point where the atmosphere was much better and the party was in full flow. We were determined to make it all the way back to town though. Having left everyone else
behind after the last bar, I drifted slowly down the river, bumping into the occasional rock and scraping along the bottom of the bed due to the shallow water during dry season. Daylight slowly left me as I drifted past the huge karsts and I was left alone, floating along in pitch black, with the only company coming in the form of fire flies along the banks. I began to worry that I had missed the town and drifted too far, visions of spending the night in the tube swam into my head as I kept hitting rocks. Eventually though, the lights of party island came into view and I managed to make my way to the side of the river, climbing up to find myself in the Bucket Bar once again! Nackered, I made my way back to the guesthouse for a quick change and shower before the second evening assault on party island.

Waking up the next day, I discovered a large cut and bruise on my forehead and no idea how it got there. I also discovered that I had come home in someone elses flip flops and my t-shirt was nowhere to be seen....must have been a good night!
I felt like cr@p and decided that sweating out the alcohol was the best way forward so I put in a full hour of exercise and got three litres of water down my neck. The rest of the day was spent chilling with the Canadian girls, watching Friends, eating and drinking the odd beer to stave off the hangover. We did manage to hit the island again but only for a cursory beer while we watched some excellent fire poi displays. On our last day in town, Tom and I booked a kayaking trip to get to Viantiene and then headed up to the river in the afternoon to have a few more drinks and enjoy the sunshine and atmosphere. I think by this point I had about had enough of it though and I didnt really feel like getting on it knowing we had the trip the next morning. Made it through till about 7 before we headed back
to town for food and to pack up. I picked up my Vietnam visa that was ready waiting for me and hit the sack early.

We were joined on the tuk tuk for the kayaking trip by 10 other people, a mix of Ozzies, Canadians and English, all with backpacks in tow, as well as 4 guides and 8 kayaks. This made for a very cramped journey, with people hanging off the back and one guide on the roof with the kayaks. The 90 minute journey lasted 2 and a half hours and the dust off the dry roads as vehicles passed us was choking. By the time we arrived at the start point to kayak, everyone was absolutely covered, as were all the bags. It was a relief to get into the cool river and clean off. I paired up in the two man kayaks with an English lad, Ben and we set off as a group down the river, moving quickly with the flow.

Lunch came all too quickly and was taken on some large rocks. Not an ideal stopping point as we were soon covered in annoying flies and bees. The guides cooked up some kebabs and rice and we lazed around in the sun for an hour before continuing on our way. The next stage involved a few short stretches of rapids, the first of which was the strongest. I thought we had made it through ok until Ben completely lost his balance after the last surge and we capsized into the river. We managed to hold our paddles and the guides helped us right the kayak. We werent the only ones to go in and everyone had a good laugh as we moved on to the second set, where another couple of kayaks were capsized. From there it was easier going and we made just one more stop, to jump into the river off some high rocks. It was great to get some exercise in the sunshine and I felt mush better for it after the 3 hour trip down river. We were met by another, thankfully, much bigger tuk tuk and carried on our way to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We stopped early on in a small viallge where we were allowed to use the toilet facilities at the driver's home. While we waited, lots of children came out onto the street to say hello and wave and dance by the tuk tuk.

Another 2 and a half hours of dustiness meant everyone was well ready for a shower by the time we pulled into the old quarter and got ourselves 2 dorm rooms to split between the 12 that had been on the trip. We headed for dinner together but I was pretty tired and didnt stay out long. The most bizarre point of the evening came when a Scottish lad, on holiday from the rigs for 3 weeks came to join us, clearly plastered. After seeing a ladyboy in the bar playing pool, he explained to me that he had slept with a ladyboy in Bangkok and you could never truly know if you were gay until you had done it and not felt anything!! I thought
this was a slightly twisted view of things, can't say I have ever felt I needed to do that to know that I prefer Eve to Steve!

I headed up to the room and chilled out, reflecting on what has been an excellent week or so in Laos. It is a stunning country where everyone is so friendly. Have loved all the children shouting sabai dee and waving as you go past, can only imagine that back home they would probably be sticking two fingers up at you and shouting obscenities. The landscape is dramatic, from the mighty Mekong river
and the enormous limestone karsts and winding mountain roads to the high waterfalls and giant caves. I only wish I had more time to explore the country, to see what else it has to offer and meet more of the local people. The town of Vang Vieng was a complete contrast to the peace of the rest of the country and I wonder what will happen if more young western people continue to die or get seriously injured after drinking and taking the many drugs on offer. I am sure that parents will continue to lobby their governments to try and get the Laos government to do something about it. Not sure how well this will work though given the enormous amounts of money that are generated there. I can only say I had a great time in the town!

As I sit writing, I am waiting at the airport for my flight to Hanoi. My excitement about seeing the beautiful Ha Long Bay has been tempered somewhat by all of the stories of overcrowding on the water, numerous scams being run by the travel agents and disappointed westerners being ripped off. I can only hope my experience is somewhat better than theirs and the Bay lives up to the photos I
have been looking at since I booked the trip last year.

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