Vang Vieng: Beer, River, Inner Tube, Jumps from height. Health and Safety at its finest!

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We are currently sitting at Thai immigration, having just crossed back over from Laos to Thailand. I've got to write about both Vang Vieng and the Laos capital Vientiane, but as there isn't much to say about the latter, it can wait.

So Vang Vieng - The reason we went to Laos. If you want culture, go to Luang Prabang. If meeting the locals is your thing, trek in the north. For French coffee check out Vientiane. If however bars showing wall to wall Family Guy or Friends, floating down a river on an inner tube with a beer in your hand, and doing ridiculous jumps/swings/zip wires into water that is probably a bit too shallow floats your boat VV is nirvana.

Vang Vieng is set in some of the most spectacular scenery imaginable. An older traveller may see the town itself as a blot on the landscape, but to young backpackers such as ourselves there are few places better. Essentially it is 2 streets, perpendicular to each other in a T-shape, as well as several river side establishments reached by crossing some very rickety bamboo bridges. Finding accommodation was easy and the room we ended up with was as good a value as we have had on the trip.

After settling in, we went into our usual routine of orientating ourselves within the town. We have become masters of getting our bearings quickly, and perhaps aided by Vang Viengs' small size, we had the place sussed in no time.

It was middle afternoon so we had some hours to kill. Fortunately Vang Vieng is the home of killing time, so we soon settled in at one of the many TV bar/cafe's. We chose this one because its program of choice was Family Guy, a favourite of both myself and Paul. Lined with square, cushoined platforms for lying on, these TV bars make it so easy to lose track of time. Before we knew it, we have watched 6 episodes, equating to 3 hours of sheer idleness. Having been rushed off our feet literally since leaving on February 7th, the relaxation was appreciated by both of us. As mid afternoon had turned into early evening, it was time for us to stretch our legs and find something to eat. So we got up, grabbed a menu, then lay back down and ordered food. This was the life!

We woke the next day to the sound of rain. The plan had been to do the river tubing that day, however the weather was pretty miserable so we decided to take a raincheck. That was a first for the trip, we had never experienced rain in the daytime at all before, let alone have the weather change our plans. It was by no means terrible news though, the great thing about having 6 months away is that there is no rush to get things done. Therefore another lazy day watching cartoons was not a bad consolation. As all we literally did for the day was watch TV while sipping fizzy drinks, I'll take the chance to say that Vang Vieng is the epitome of community spirit amongst travellers in Laos I have referred to in previous entries. You cannot go 5 minutes without talking to or at least seeing someone you know. This would be further underlined at the next day's tubing.

We were glad to wake up to sunshine coming through the window of our room - which meant tubing was most definately a go-er. We had arranged the night before, that if it was sunny, the group of us would meet at 11am for some breakfast before hiring our tubes (basically big inflateable tyres) and heading to the river.

Fortunately as well as the tubes, you can hire a dry bag to store your valuables - definately a sound investment. You are then loaded like cattle onto whatever form of motorized transport was waiting at the time. In any other town, tuk tuks going past with 10 rubber rings on the roof would attract funny looks, but in Vang Vieng they are as common as any other traffic.

Once at the river it wasn't long before we were kitted out and had started floating. The water was barely ankle deep at the beginning, so local kids were on hand to provide a much needed push start - in return for a few baht. From the very beginning of the route, you can hear music pounding from downstream, and the first bar is also in sight, about 300m away. It is impossible to resist stopping right away, due to the sense of atmosphere that exudes from the bamboo platform. And it isn't long before you find yourself dragged in with a big stick by the bar staff. We must have remained at the first stop for a good hour and a half, but not for one moment did it drag. Time was passed having a laugh and joke in our big group (predominantly made up of Irish), and laughing at the people zip wiring from the precarious looking platform above. It was great fun to see people fly off at the end of the zip wire, as a result of not letting go before the stopper. It goes without saying that Paul and myself were amongst those who braved the zip wire, as well as jumping about 20m off the platform itself straight down into the water. Fortunately, around this bar, the water turned deep, meaning even the craziest of jumps and flips could land safely. Eventually we decided it was time to move on, and hopped back in the tubes to float down to the next stop.

It took only 2 minutes to reach the next bar, and that was despite the very slow moving water. In reality, this next stop was only 20m away from the previous. Slightly different in layout, it was positioned on the actual bank of the river, but still featured the customary fragile looking bamboo structure from which people were in this instance swinging from using a huge trapeze. Standing at the top of the trapeze was enough to make you dizzy, let alone compared to the feeling as you flew throught the air towards the river. The local attending to the swing insisted that you must let go on the first swing towards the river, as if you let the trapeze swing back towards the bank you would be hanging over rocks and bash into the bamboo tower. The trapeze was harder to hold onto than the previous zip wire, which caught a fair few people by suprise (myself included), meaning we were thrown from it earlier than wished! A valuable lesson learned for the later swings, which would get bigger and bigger.

And so it continued, stop after stop with different (more testing) acrobatic swings and jumps into the water. Various homemade signs would remind you that the nearest hospital was in Bangkok (15 hours away), but still you had to jump. On the rare occassions that people climbed the ladders but then backed out, they were met with a chorus of boos as they tentatively made their way back down!

Spirits were high as we arrived at the last bar. The actual distance along the river between the first and last stop was probably less than half a mile, yet still it had taken us 6 hours to get this far! This last bar boasted the biggest trapeze of the lot, but what made it great was that unlike the few previous, there were no rocks that needed avoiding, and the trapeze was lined with grip tape, making it very easy to hold onto. As a result, we went on it over and over again, varying between swinging back and forth for as long as we could, or just braving to let go on the first apex of the swing - a huge height. Like all the bars previous, the music that was playing (usually Bob Marley) seemed immensely apt. Meaning when we did take a moment to sit down, relax and take it all in, it was obvious that the day no doubt was going to be a highlight of the whole trip.

But alas, it was not quite over. As we realised our group were the last left on the whole river, and the sun was setting, it was time to depart. Two options were open with regards to getting back to town. You could cross a bridge onto the road, and hire a tuk tuk back, or you could float the rest of the distance on the river. Never believing in doing things by half measures, we chose the latter. From what we had heard, and assumed, we thought it would be about half an hour back to town. Before we knew it, half an hour had turned to an hour and what light was left when we left the bar had turned to dark. Pitch black in fact. Although the river depth barely reached our knees, it was a bit nerve racking as we seemed to be taking an eternity to reach Vang Vieng. Floating by the huge karst limestone formations that usually made the scenery so stunning, served only to make the situation more eerie. As soon as the insects, frogs and whatever else started to make their noises, we decided it was time to get out! Only problem being, there wasn't really anywhere to get out, and if there was, we couldn't see it! Fortunately, we finally stumbled upon a jetty, where 2 local fishermen seemed genuinely bemused to see us. I'd imagine the sight of 2 farang, struggling to pull themselves onto a jetty with bright rubber rings attached at 8pm at night when it was pitch black, would have been pretty bizarre for them. Once out, we stumbled upon some locals who agreed to give us a lift back into town. It took about 10 minutes on the straight road, meaning had we chosen to carry on, Paul and I would probably have been floating on the still water till the morning! It's great to laugh about it now however, and only adds to the memories of a great day.

That night was spent retelling tales of the day, and reviewing the variety of photos and videos we had taken with the group. Best day so far? Definately a contender.

After the fun of the day before, we decided to go tubing again the next day. We knew that doing it again, like movie sequels, would probably not be as good, but if we were to have half as much fun, we would still have a great time. Plus we wanted to get some pics on Pauls camera, as opposed to just my phone this time. Despite the weather starting off a bit miserable, and there not being as many people on the river, we still had a great time. As part of a smaller group, we relaxed more, sitting down and watching the river go by for periods of time. But also trying to get some great action shots of the swings - which we did. The best of the shots from the 2 days are attached to this blog. It was once again dark by the time we left the last bar, so we made the wise choice, and hired a tuk tuk back into town. On return we were too tired to do anything, so had an early night in preparation for our journey to Laos' capital Vientiane in the morning.

There is no doubt about it. If you re going to Laos, you must go to Vang Vieng. Even if you are not going to Laos, change your plans and go, even it is just for VV. You will not regret it. I know we haven't!

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Photos

Family Guy
Pure Idleness

Paul with Tube
Hehe...The fun was yet to come!

Bar Number One
As everyone had just left.

The Scene
Looking down from one of the Middle Bars

One of the Younger Tubers
Its a family sport!

Paul Mid-Swing
Not even one of the biggest Trapezes!

Nearest hospital Bangkok
You fall, you die!

Me Mid-Swing
Hench-man!