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Published: July 19th 2009
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Crossing the Nam Song
Just before Elliot's crash Arriving our fears were washed away. We were right - especially since there was an off season discount at the hotel! The setting is breathtaking. Jake and Elliot were keen to tube and we figured if we went early the next morning we would miss the worse of the alcohol fuelled backpackers. It is certainly true that the town is hideously developed, and mobbed with backpackers (apparently we are flashpackers!) which leave little for the local culture, and perhaps the errors made here are why Laos is now so careful about developing its tourism. But we have found most people friendly, helpful and polite, and even little things like that the Tubing Federation is actually a co-operative of all the locals gathering to buy tubes to rent makes one feel better about it.
After our arrival the boys had simple roti pancakes, and we all had fruit shakes, and then we headed off on newly hired bikes. We cycled down to a cave and swimming area which involved crossing the Nam Song. It was quite simply one of the most stunning swimming experiences of our lives. Cool blue water (almost glowing blue) flowed out of a cave and around
a little group of rocks before joining the muddy Nam Song. There were little fish to see, and you could swim into the cave. Jake was immediately put in mind of the cave in the Half Blood Prince, but it was beautiful. Up a narrow channel swimming hard against the flow (the boys needed “Dad-tows”) which then opened into a huge limestone chamber, with large stalactites coming down from the ceiling. As you tired and stopped swimming you were swept out - no need to swim, just to steer a bit and came blinking into the brilliant sunshine. Dinner, on the riverfront was delicious genuine Laos food for adults, and pasta dishes for children - service a little slow, but all good.
We arose the next morning to find it cooler, and the rain which greeted us grew heavier over breakfast to a full deluge. Perfect weather for tubing! We headed off in our swimmers and sun vests, collected tubes, and got a tuk-tuk up to the river entry point. The water looked fast here, and music was pumping, with one group of British backpackers already (it was 10:00 am) tucking into bucketfuls (literally served in plastic sea side
buckets with straws) of cocktails and beers - don’t they make you proud? We decided to get life jackets for the boys, and here is an illustration that even in Vang Vieng “Real” Laos is never far away. I got a free ride back to the tubing centre from a different tuk tuk driver who had just dropped off another group. He stopped en route to collect his daughter and dropped her off (all bounce and smiles) at the hospital before taking me to the tubing centre. Here I was given 3 life jackets (at no extra charge) and one of the hands offered me a lift back (again for free) on the back of his motorbike!
Boys now fully equipped we entered the water, and soon overtook the previous group, who had stopped at another bar roughly 50m downstream. From here on we had the river to ourselves, and the low cloud hugging the limestone casts made for one of the most impressive backdrops to anything I have ever seen. We held hands keeping our tubes together like a little raft and sang and laughed our way downriver past many now closed bars, which would surely have been
riotous later in the day. If you want to tube and not experience the boozy excesses then the morning is definitely the time to do it. At the end I dropped through the tube, Jake held on to the back of mine, and I towed us ashore where we walked back to the hire place. The boys were elated and hungry.
We had rapid showers, then lunch at a roadside café - sandwiches or quite magnificent soups - and then the days only low point. Jake and I had haircuts. Taking Jake to the barbers is one of the least pleasant parental duties, I think we could pull his nails out with pliers with less fuss. Still as that finished the rain dried up and we headed off on our bikes.
We crossed the bridge over the Nam Song, Elliot crashing spectacularly at the end, but keen to continue despite bangs to face and elbow. Our route then took us through paddy fields bounded by more amazing limestone karsts, and Ramboutan Orchards (like lychees but red and hairy), past cows and children playing in streams, over rocks and little bridges and through muddy puddles. Again we reflected that
those critics of Vang Vieng having nothing of the Real Laos just had not looked hard enough. There were stalls selling homegrown produce and offering fresh juices (NOT coke or pepsi but home made fruit shakes) at various intervals.
We arrived at Phamtouk caves far too late to see the caves but with 5 minutes to swim in the Blue Lagoon. This was another bright blue swimming pool fed by water filtered through the limestone. It was cool and deep and there were various swings, ropes and jumps. Jake and Elliot thrilled to leap from trees and a bridge into the water and were both reluctant to leave - but no whining!
We cycled rapidly back for another shower before dinner and a good nights sleep. Jake declared it one of the best days ever (and we have had some good ones) and Elliot accorded it Fan-tiddly-tastic status. The town itself is unfortunate, and there is evidence of new concrete monstrosities everywhere. It is sad to see how the effect of a mass influx of alcohol fuelled thrill seekers can erode the ambience of a town, and you see nearly as many bikinied and surf shorted westerners as you do locals, many lounging in a series of characterless bars watching endless reruns of friends. Yet it does not take much to scratch below the surface. The popularity is because it is such a spectacular and activity rich environment, A simple attempt at local hellos and thank yous wins smiles and kindness that is touching, and we wish we had longer here - we have yet to Kayak the Nam Song, or climb in the karsts, and good local guides offer both activities cheaply. Vang Vieng is a wonderful place, not yet fully spoiled by us, and if we can encourage better tourism here then all will benefit. Come with open minds and smiles, explore off the beaten track and you will be rewarded hugely.
The following day was one of the ones we had least been looking for - not the first day of the school holidays - but the bus journey to Luang Prabang (Kipperbang). This is described as between 6 and 7 hours and a real problem for sufferers of motion sickness - stand up Elliot and Jake too on this trip. In the event we got the most cautious driver ever, and as we crawled up hills, eased around corners and whined in gear 2 down the hills the boys were oblivious. In part this was Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter on their i-pod, but there were no complaints of sickness. Sadly combined with his propensity for stops in the first hour of the trip, it also meant we were over the 7 hours. Again no complaints from the boys who were desperate to get back on the coach after every toilet stop, and sat in silence except the occasional snort or cheer all the way there. We were also entranced but by the scenery passing by. The landscapes were awesome, and the villages fascinating with their woven houses, simple animal husbandry and strange agriculture - especially the paddy, and the 65 degree sweetcorn slopes. It was a long day, but nowhere near as bad as we feared.
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