Tubey Dubey Do Whop, Vang Vieng and Vientiane

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Day 125 (Wed 9^thJan)



My first full day in Vang Vieng would be spent with David and Sam as the girls were resting after their long and not so enjoyable bus ride. We had decided to go see the Blue Lagoon which is advertised everywhere. The tours say it is 7km away so we figured we’d walk it, get good exercise whilst seeing the place. In hindsight we think the guides lied. It took us nearly 90 minutes to get there meaning it must have been further as we were walking at a fair lick to get there.

On arrival we had to pay which we weren’t impressed with. A lagoon is a natural thing so paying seemed a bit of a joke. Also a bit of a joke was the lagoon which was more like a slightly wider bit in the river that was deep enough for people to jump into. It was also green not blue. Anyways enough with the complaining. We got in and had a swim, also using the tree that hangs over the river to jump off. After a couple somersaults went slightly wrong I decided enough was enough and got out to dry.

There was one more attraction there being the Pha Nouk cave, now this was impressive. We climbed up the stupidly steep and sketchy stairs, passed a girl who had passed out half way up and was been looked after by some randoms and made our way to the entrance.

The cave was huge, we had hired some flashlights from a guy at the bottom and we certainly needed them. We could walk into the cave for a fair distance, getting darker and darker as we went in. One thing you wouldn’t want to do in there would be to take a fall because you’d have had no chance in getting out or down the stairs to the entrance to the lagoon. With this not in mind I was jumping about and climbing all over everything as one does. We made it pretty much as far as we could go, without any proper climbing gear and then headed back out. After this we walked back to town and went to our hostels.

The group, now 8 of us all met up in the evening and went for tea, which was nice. Took in a few bars, being the Aussie bar, the Irish bar and Monkey’s, so basically the main 3 places in the town. After here some of the girls went back, some stayed in Monkeys and I went to a random disco with a Welsh lad who was in my dorm room. After a few shapes had been thrown I realised I was very drunk indeed and we headed back to the hostel, where I am sure I did some skyping but really can’t remember.

On the way back I got arguing with an Australian who thought Australian and American were different languages to English, after trying to tell him he was a plank I figured I’d leave it and go home.



Day 126 (Thurs 10^th Jan)



Today we had planned on going tubing. We all met for breakfast but after seeing the weather and the forecast for tomorrow decided against it and instead were going to have a lazy day. I was feeling a little delicate to say the least so bed it was for me, Megan was also ill, same for her and the 4 other girls decided on walking around town.

During the morning the remaining people in my room that weren’t in our group moved out so Izzy, Hazel and Amy all moved in. We now had a 6 room dorm and no strangers which was cool. Usual evening of tea and a few drinks ensued.



Day 127 (Fri 11^th Jan)



Today was tubing day. Tubing has been toned down recently after some people doing it died. It used to be loads of river side bars, zip lines and death slides, now it was floating down a river on a rubber ring and none of the above, although some of us did bring a few beers and I also brought a bottle of sticky rice wine I’d acquired in Luang Prabang.

We started off around lunch time and got a tuk tuk 4km upstream. Getting into the bloody thing was tricky enough against the rapids but we all managed it and set off downstream. At first it was pretty enjoyable, we all had a laugh and a drink. As time went on it got a little boring, also my drink ran out so I started getting very tired, on a couple of occasions drifting off until a rock hit my ass and woke me up.

Overall it was good fun but definitely something I only wanted to do once. It was relaxing just not exciting. In the evening we met for tea but by now I’d gone deaf in one ear. This sometimes happens at home when I’m in the bath too long, water gets in and won’t come out. It pretty much ruined my evening as I couldn’t hear anything, it also made me feel quite off, so after food I headed back to the room to do nothing while the others stayed out for a few drinks.

I did have a productive evening though, booking a flight from Cambodia to Malaysia in March to watch the formula 1. It seems my trip is taking a more concrete structure after being quite erratic until now. I now have 2 months for the rest of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, more than enough time to enjoy both countries at a relaxed pace.



Day 128 (Sat 12^th Jan)



In the morning I climbed a little hill that overlooks the town. I did this on my own as the girls did it a few days ago. As you approach the hill, it doesn’t look like much, but the walk up it is very tricky indeed. The terrain is a mixture between huge rocks and bamboo ladders put in place that definitely are not very secure. I got to the top and took some pictures of the town and the hills in the background.

I was joined at the top by a senior Korean lady and a middle aged Thai bloke. We all posed as we took pictures for one another before heading back down. It was a decent work out for early in the morning and was definitely worth going up to have a look.

We sorted our bus out to leave the following day then with it being Saturday our evening was taken up by watching the football in the Aussie and Irish bars. The Irish bar I noticed had a Manx flag and also one of the staff was Manx which was amazing, the first time I’ve met another Manxie on the road. I recognised a few names that were written on it and added mine to the flag also. By the end of the second game I was suitably drunk to head back to the hostel.

We said goodbye to Sam and David who were staying in Vang Vieng for a few more days while we moved on. Hopefully I’ll catch them in Melbourne when I get there, whenever that may be.



Day 129 (Sun 13^th Jan)



We got a 10am bus to Vientiane which took around 3 ½ hours. We had found a hostel online so we headed there for a look and we checked in. After check in the girls went for a walk round time while I went to bed as I was feeling very tired. I wasn’t the only one in the room sleeping; it seemed there were 3 or 4 other guys having an afternoon nap. I find if I have nothing to do in an afternoon or have done everything I want to, a nap is a good idea so I can go out in the evening.

We all wandered around the night market in the evening, but it had nothing on the night market in Luang Prabang, it seemed more of a locals market and didn’t really offer much to the tourists, not that I like to shop anyways, I do however like a good food market, can’t beat them.

I left the girls to it on the search for a pub to watch the football in. Found a little small place, headed inside where every white male in Vientiane was hiding. Happy with the result I headed back to the hostel to meet the girl’s playing cards. I left them too it and headed off to bed.



Day 130 (Mon 14^th Jan)



At 9am Louise, Izzy, Hazel and Amy left to go further south in Laos leaving just me and Megan. We had breakfast then said our goodbyes. It has been a good few weeks travelling in a large group.

As this was early and we didn’t need to check out until 12 we both headed back to our beds to get our monies worth.

We pottered about during the afternoon and had a wander round taking in a few of the sights of Vientiane. They have an Arc de Triomphe in homage to their French history in the middle of town. I thought the building was alright but the locals obviously don’t. On the sign next to it, they call it a ‘concrete monster’ which I found very amusing indeed.

We then looked for #1 Trip Advisor activity of the Cope centre. This being a place to do with prosthetic limbs. After searching for it we couldn’t find it and we asked around 3 or 4 people who all said it’s this way or that way. We couldn’t find it anyways, but I wasn’t too disappointed. It seemed a strange thing anyways so not sure I’d have liked it.

We found a nice little delicatessen on the way back to the hostel, I bought 4 rolls, some german sausage, ham and some laughing cow spreadable cheese. Headed back to the hostel where I made up 4 large sandwiches ready for the night bus to Hanoi. Yesterday we gave out passports to the hostel owner, paid for the visa’s and he got them express serviced first thing meaning we could leave in the evening. We waited for the minivan to come pick us up and we headed out to the bus station to board our 6:30pm bus to Hanoi. This was due to take 22 hours. But would it? And what type of bus would we get?



Next – Night bus to Hanoi and Hanoi itself

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