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Published: April 7th 2009
Tubing
the beginning of Spring Break! HA!We took a bus to Vang Vieng and once again got very lucky in that the bus wasn't very full. This time there were not even any poultry or crustaceans. The bus was only about 3 hours which at this point seems like it is right around the corner. We arrived in Vang Vieng and I was so surprised to see that the streets were lined with restaurants and bars catering towards westerners. I had read about the "Friends" tv bars, but was not expecting it to the extent that it was. Every restaurant had ongoing episodes of "Friends". It was amazing. Not true Laos experience but something that I needed when I was feeling pretty down. Some places chose to show The Simpsons, but most stuck to Friends. Crazy. We found a guesthouse that was complete with hammocks outside our door and a groupful of stoners who had been staying there for weeks.
That night, we got some dinner and wandered around the town. The big thing to do in Vang Vieng is to go tubing along the river. There are many riverside bars that all have some sort of ziplines and rope swings. All along my travels in
forever tubers
they have been here forever...when did they decide to get matchy matchy girl boardshorts? SEA, I keep meeting people who have horror stories of all their injuries that they got while in Vang Vieng. I always figured that was because they were wasted and jumped off high things. Once I arrived here, I realized that many people get injured becuase the river and swings are not regulated and they don't change the heights depending on the season. It is currently dry season so the river is pretty low and many of the swings are within inches to rocks. ouch! One girl in our guesthouse had completely severed some tendons in her feet, got a bad stitching job in a local hospital and was flying to Bangkok to seek real medical treatment. At that point I had decided that maybe I would stay away from the swings.
We got up the next morning, went for a run and had been told by many people not to get a tube to go tubing. HUH? how do you tube without a tube? Well, it turns out that you have to park your tube and get out to go to the bars and many people end up stealing your tubes. The companies also enforce a 6pm return
strange people
did he think his tatto was classy because when he wears a wife beater you can't see it? tube policy and if you are late, you lose your deposit. So pretty much, it sounded like having a tube was more of a hassel than not having one. We grabbed a tuk tuk to the beginning of the river and began our 'tubing' adventure.
We arrived and realized that we were in fact back in college reliving our spring break days. It was Cancun except instead of tequila it was Laos whiskey, instead of frat boys rating bungee jumps, it was beer bellied back packers rating rope swings and instead of drunk teeny boppers it was, no wait same same. but different. At first it was strange to be in a place like this when you think you are in Laos, but it ended up being really fun. The first bar had the highest rope swing with the narrowest area to land in, but ofcourse I decided I had to try it. I went for it pretty early on because I did not think it was a wise thing to do once I had sipped on my whiskey bucket. I climbed to the top and wondered why I don't really get afraid of things like this!! It was
mud
throwing mud. super fun, I cleared the rocks and swam back to the bar. There were 2 guys there who had been 'tubing' for so many days that they had a count....one was over 120 days and the other was in the 30s. I can't even imagine how old that would get. Their mothers must be very proud!
We walked to the next bar and Jen decided she would brave that swing. After she went, i decided I should try another one. Being that this one wasn't as high and there weren't rocks around, I wasn't as careful. I jumped off the platform and the grip on the one side of the handle was worn off and so I completely slipped. I went straight into the water and the way I hit the water, it kind of knocked the wind out of me a little and really badly stung my right leg and stomach. I know am one of those girls with bruises all over that can be attributed to tubing in Vang Vieng. Oops. It was fun anyways! We hit another couple of bars and then decided to swim with a bunch of people to a further one. The water
Limbo!
Ofcourse I won the contest!!! was very shallow but the current was strong and there I ended up saying goodbye to my flip flops and my tank top that was tied to my board shorts. Oh well. Somehow I held onto my bucket. We got to the next bar and the current was so strong that it was hard to get out of it. Luckily people stand at the side and throw ropes to help you get up. I made it there and now had some more bruises, stratches and cuts to add to my war wounds.
the next bar we went to had a mud pit which got a bit crazy (but fun!) and then a limbo contest. I was pretty confident in my limbo skills and ended up winning. I won a free bucket, drank some of it but then realized that I didn't need anymore and didn't need to finish the whole thing even though I had earned it. I am so grown up.
We hung out at a few different bars, decided not to do any more swings, but did go on a big water slide into the river. It was really fun, but while waiting, I met a
bunch of other people who have gotten really hurt on the slide. It seemed pretty safe and was pretty easy. It is so funny how many people come to SEA and end up spending weeks and weeks just getting drunk, doing drugs and jumping off things. To me that is not really experiencing everything that SE Asia has to offer. I will say I had a great time playing Spring Break for 1 day, but every day, really??! Eventually we decided to head back into town, have a shower and get some dinner. Unfortunately the water in our guesthouse was not working so we had to live with our nasty river water. We had some dinner, booked a kayaking trip for the next day and went to sleep.
The next morning we got up, had some breakfast and headed out onto a kayaking trip. It was really nice to see the river for its true beauty and not just as a place to get drunk and stupid. We kayaked for a few hours and then spent the afternoon shopping and lounging in a hammock. That night we checked out some of the other bars in the town which was
Kayaking!
really pretty mountains! fun. We got stuck sitting with this really horrible guy who felt like just because we are American, we must have judgements on people from everywhere. He thought we would feel strange hanging out with Vietnamese people because of the war (exactly right...I just spent 2 months in Vietnam because I didn't want to hang out with Vietnamese people???) I am pretty sure he felt really awkward when he said..."So you get into a tuk-tuk and their is a Jewish person, doesn't that make you feel awkward?" ummmm...hello?? He couldn't understand why we didn't hold grudges against all types of people that the US ever had issues with. What a freaking loser. Seriously. It took me everything I had not to punch him for being so dumb. And his wife just giggled along with all his stupidity. They deserved each other.
The next morning, we headed out to Luang Prubang on a bus that is supposed to be the worst in Laos. We got to the bus station and onto the bus where we luckily again each had a row to ourselves. The trip was super bumpy, very windy, but absolutely beautiful! We were in the middle of the mountains and it was gorgeous! We only really stopped towards the beginning of the 7+hour trip and then only stopped at the side of the road for pee stops. I didn't want to pop a squat on the side of the road so by the time we made it to LP, I had to pee horribly!! Luckily there were toilets at the bus stations! We found a guest house and journeyed out to find the night market. We found the food stalls since we were starving and I got a plate from the 5,000 kip (like 60 cents) per plate veggie buffet! It was great! Add to that a 1,000 kip fresh spring roll and I was set! I then bought a few pairs of earrings (YAY!), ran into a girl I met in southern Laos and then went to a bar for a quick beer. I then ran into someone else who I had met in Vietnam and chatted with him for a little. We then chatted with another person we had met in Vang Vieng and I realized how small this travelling world is!
Today I have just been venturing around Luang Prubang and figuring out how I will spend my few days I have before the new year. I am thinking of probably heading out for some more village trekking in a few days, but tomorrow will go see a waterfall and spend a few hours getting pampered!! Massage, facial, body scrub, herbal steam bath...can't wait!! I am still sore from my tubing adventure so it will be much needed!!
Luang Prubang is so super cute. It reminds me a bit of Hoi An which I loved! I am happy that I will be spending a bit of time here during Laos New Year!
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LUKAS
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SERIOUSLY
you didn't want to go on the never ending spring break like peter pan? sounds like you partied in never never land and you were tinker bell.. reading about those guys a think i work to much!! naw i'm good i think i'll keep up my work ethic... party part time only.. hope your family is well and everything is cool.. i'll send some positive thoughts like marry poppins to you and yours.. a spoon full of sugar and fly a kite.. oooo reminds me of a joke... so a guys is trying to fly a kite and it continues to crash into the ground over and over. his wife is watching from the kitchen window and thinks to herself that he can never do anything right so she yells out the window "hey you need some tail" her husband gives her a confused look and yells back "make up your mind! last night you told me to go fly a kite!" so when your out there flying your kite remember your tail and stop beating yourself up thats my job!! haha i would say something average here like be careful and blah blah blah but that wouldn't be like me so when your doing your fun and crazy antics make sure your buzzed enough to keep a level head but not so much as to end up on your head!! your the strongest drink at the bar whiskey girl.... peace out and be car full of fun little clowns....... hahahahhaahahahahahahah