Vang Vieng: Planned to stay 4 days - it turned into 8!

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I suppose I will explain Vang Vieng! We spent 8 great days there, the longest that we have spent anywhere yet. I think it is a marmite type of place and for us we loved it. But it wasn’t just because the tubing is a whole heap of fun or cos you can lie around in restaurants watching family guy, friends, how I met your mother, south park or the like, or that every night from 9pm you get free buckets for an hour, then you can party til early morning doing limbo, dancing around campfires, you name it. There is also the option for happy shakes, pizzas, bags of this drug and that on most restaurant menus. That is one side of Vang Vieng that I think some people hate. Especially those who are really stringent about experiencing the “real” parts of a country. Ok Vang Vieng has turned into a town for partying based on the tubing craze but it has so much more to offer. If you are someone who doesn’t like what the town has turned into, I recommend that you grin, bear it and do all the other stuff that is on offer!

What is this other stuff of which you speak? Where do I start! In the local vicinity there is an abundance of caves, waterfalls (we didn’t make it to one unfortunately), treks, hill climbs, kayaking and the list goes on……

One afternoon after a serious hangover with both of us in pretty bad form we decided to head for a nice walk to a hill mentioned in a map we found. When we got there, this hill, although the smallest by far of all the mountains around, was a pretty scary climb up bamboo ladders, unsteady rocks, dirt tracks. I’m not going to lie, it was tough going. Any fitness I built up early last year went out the window after Roisin’s wedding but it was really enjoyable. At the top the view of the town and mountains was gorgeous. The way down however was not. It was damn scary. At one point I was sure I wouldn’t make it down. Bloody bamboo ladder hanging over a big edge with extra-long gaps between the rungs. Talk about freezing on the spot. Poor John was just as cool as ever, telling me that I have to come down so there’s no point getting stressed! We made it to the bottom and the fear sweats had devoured me. It’s hilarious how adrenalin works!

On another day we decided to rent bikes and cycle 7km to the Pukam Caves and Blue Lagoon. This day really did turn into an adventure! I was fairly anxious about the bikes, hadn’t been on one since I was about 14 I reckon, 7km on dirt track roads with triathlon Johnny to contend with. He said sure 7km will take about 15mins; I was dubious with mention of the rocky roads and my unknown ability! Off we set and I loved it. Out the road about 7 mins and Johns chain comes off. He fixes it, we cycle a bit, get to a hill or a very bumpy part of the road, John’s chain comes off. Looking back it is funny but triathlon Johnny was not enjoying it one bit! So on we go, cycling on the bumpiest road with motor bikes, cattle, and lots of turns to caves. We then get to where we think is the turn off for the cave and wee fella points us in the direction of the blue lagoon, 1km away, happy days!

Down we go and we get to a clearing with a house and a rickety sign saying lagoon to the left, cave to the right. I was a bit surprised, it was very quiet here (no other tourists to be seen), and the lagoon looked like a pretty crappy one. Two young boys helped us tie up our bikes and led us to the cave. Us and two young fellas climbed 100m up a steep hill to a cave. Then I was too chicken to go in. They had flash lights, we had none. So finally we went in, they guided us down even ricketier bamboo ladders. We saw bats on the ceiling; it was pitch black apart from their torches. Then they tried to lead us into this small whole saying it would get bigger. I was happy with what I saw (so was John I think) so we went on our way down the hill. Here we met an Italian couple who were as perplexed as us. They showed us the map and we all agreed it was back down the road and to the right (John lost our map, fixing his chain I presume he he). The two young fellas, not a bother to them, said yes the real cave and the blue lagoon were on further!!! I was thinking it was strange…

On we cycled; it was 2km still to go! We were about 500m up the road and John’s chain basically broke in half as we conveniently stopped at bicycle and motor cycle repair shop (John’s luck again?). So the family invited us in to wait for the man of the house to come. The ladies were seamstresses who were finishing their silk scarves they had made on looms. It was really interesting to watch them work. The man of the house came and fixed the chain. An hour later, on our way we went.

So the 15minute journey took about 2hours with just a few diversions. We made it to the cave and lagoon and it was all worth it. We got a guide to escort us into the cave (on the Italian couples advice, whom we met leaving the cave as we climbed the steps to enter, he had a motorbike and had all done). The cave was incredible, we were in their for an hour or so, climbing up and down rocks, through crevices, sliding along slippy rocks, finding hidden corners. It was massive inside. There were glittery rocks, lots of stalactites and stalagmites. Our guide had no English but he pointed out interesting things to us. Sometimes I was worried for him as he was quite old, in flip flops and kept sliding when it was slippy but he was well used to it. About half way through we picked up a straggler who was lost… It was really hard to know where you were or where to go. After the workout in the cave the lagoon was delicious! It was so cold and refreshing with swings to sit on or swings to jump off. So we hung out there for a while before cycling back. It went off without incident, 25mins uninterrupted….. A fabulous day.

We also decided to do some kayaking down the river. We were taken about 8km from town and we kayaked down the river over about 2hours. It was really nice, there were no big rapids, the water was a bit shallow (we got stuck on rocks a few times), it was really quiet and we got to see the tubing bars without the havoc of the afternoon. We had a lovely guide named Ham. He asked us lots of questions about our holiday, how long it took us to work before we could go etc. Of course we told him but we also were curious about his opportunity for holidays. He frankly told us that in Laos there really aren’t holidays. People just work to survive. I suppose we know these things but John and I really did feel bad at that point. We are so fortunate in Ireland (or other western countries I think) that we can do things like travel or go on holidays fairly regularly and it is important for me to remember that!

Tubing: “The leisure activity of riding on water or snow on a large inflated inner tube”

When we arrived in South East Asia most other backpackers we met were wearing t shirts with "In the tubing Vang Vieng" on them. They popped up everywhere. The talk of tubing is among the circuit but also of those who have returned so it was always on my to do list. I had heard of it a good while ago but didn’t know what it was for a while so I thought I’d put the definition up to make it clear from the start.

We did the tubing experience twice out of our 8 days. The first time we did it without the tube. What, how? Well on our first night in Vang Vieng we met lots of people who advised us that the tube itself was more hassle than it’s worth (you have to return it by 6pm for full refund of deposit, with gradual loss of money as time goes on, to no refund after a certain time) so we decided to get a tuk tuk to the bars on the river and just party. It’s easy to walk from bar to bar via bamboo bridges or sand tracks. The second time we did the whole hog. Paddy’s Day 2012 – Tubing! I think lots of you will have seen the pictures on Facebook by now but what a way to spend Paddy’s Day. The whole place was electric, green everywhere; it was great to be actually Irish! We had a funny day with a group of Irish girls we met a few nights before.

So what does the day tubing involve? You rent your tube from the local cartel (yes I know, a bit dodge) for 55000kip and deposit of 60000kip. You are then driven in a tuk tuk about 6km up river where you start! The first bar is the busiest (Q Bar) and we spent a lot of time there both times we went. There are lots of party games, free shots, free thread bracelets, whiskey trains (lines of people drinking domino effect whiskey shots, fastest line wins and drenches everyone else with water). When you are ready you pick up a tube, hop into the river and float to the next bar you want to go to. The staff at bars will try to pick you up along the way by throwing ropes at you, if you want to go, hold on and let them pull you in! Then you hop out of your tube, have more drinks, do more party games, do some slides, zip lines, rope swings, high jumps, shots of whiskey with centipedes or insect in the bottle. When you are done, you move on. Get the theme here!

So the big thing to know about tubing is that there are about 12 bars on the route. About 4 of them are busy (while we were here, its low season at the minute). It is not possible to get to the end of the tubing route by 6pm if you stop in bars. It is very far so everyone basically gets a tuk tuk back from a bar about 2km from the end called Fluid. If you want to tube the whole way, go early, skip the bars (or why not just kayak it instead). Tubing is no longer about the tubing (in Vang Vieng). It’s about the fun of hopping into and out of the river, meeting people, dancing, doing crazy things and just having an afternoon of no responsibilities.

The only thing I haven’t mentioned is the deaths related to tubing. There are reportedly one a month. There were two in January this year. From being there and not being a crazy slide or swing person I can see how it would happen. I watched lots of people come off things the wrong way or do stupid stunts instead of the way they were told to do it. If you had one too many buckets with a bit of Dutch courage with your guard down you could be unlucky. It does seem however that the worst/most dangerous slides etc. have been dismantled or no longer used so here’s hoping that this dark side of tubing will disappear. John did injure himself on a rope swing. Ribs…. Not sure how bad but possibly broken. Time will heal them! (This was on the first day and he went back for more the second day, not too bad).

So I think that gives a good idea of Vang Vieng, its good, bad and wonderful! Off on an 11 hour bus journey to Luang Prabang in Northern Laos next!

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