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Published: July 24th 2012
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On minivan from luang prabang to vang vieng
We had to stop often to let the engines cool. The roads are still a work in progress in Laos. Picture Cancun during spring break and you can get a pretty good idea of what it is like "tubing" in Vang Vieng with a few minor differences and added quirks. Vang Vieng has only really become big in the last few years but before that was a little known stop mostly only visited by backpackers who loved the laid back town in a picturesque setting with a great river that featured local bars along the shores. Rent an inner tube and mozy on down the river stopping at the different bars along the way. Just describing it sounds like the perfect recipe for a future tourist Mecca. Sure enough, the word got out and now Vang Vieng is booming with tons of tourist in addition to backpackers who come for the great party scene, the special menus, the shirt and shorts, and overall great town and location. One of the guys I traveled here with had been here two years ago and said even in that time, the place had really changed so that he barely recognized it. This is usually not quite my scene but I really enjoyed my time here and wish I would could have stayed an extra
day or two to explore more there is to offer (caving, climbing, etc) and just relax.
The majority of the tourist here are European and of those, most are British. The British love a good time and I have learned "class and style" is not usually in their definition of a good time. This gives the town a slightly fratty feel... Especially when you add the tanks and short shorts that say "In The Vang Vieng - Tubing" to the mix that everyone seems obliged to wear (I did not join that bandwagon). The other thing you get with all these tourist who are boozing up, swimming on a river and riding motor bikes is injuries. Walking around town we were constantly passing people with bandaged foots or ankles or even whole legs in casts. Most of these injuries occurred on the river from stepping on rocks but several also happened from motorbike actions. This may explain why Laos has made it illegal for foreigners to rent motorbikes, not that that stops locals from renting them out at all.
The town also caters very well to the laid back (and/or hungover) crowd. Most all
of the restaurants have couch like benches with small tables on top that you can lay back on and watch every episode of friends or family guy that you ever missed. Every restaurant had two large screen tvs playing these shows and these shows only. You could literally just sit there for hours. The other thing that all these places also have are "special menus" offering you weed, happy shakes, happy pancakes, etc. They aren't kidding about the "laid back" atmosphere.
We didn't actually do the tubing itself. Instead we went up to where they drop in the tubes and just hung out at the bars that scattered the first 400 meters or so down the river. Each bar has pulsing music, volleyball, water fountains spraying water, drinking games, and people lounging on the deck or jumping into the water. I wish I could have gotten pictures but didn't bring my camera. (I'm hoping to get some from friends who had a waterproof camera). Everyone tends to migrate down the river from one bar to the next, which sometimes required to swim across (if you didn't have a tube). There were then lots of people on the
shore with ropes they would throw rope out to you to help wheel you in. The river was surprisingly fast and you could also take a boat across that completely overflowed with water on each crossing. One poor guys job was to simply constantly bucket out water...
We stayed out on the river from the afternoon until it got dark. In SE Asia it gets starting remarkably quick and we were caught a little off guard and were on the other side of the river from the road when it got dark. We walked up stream with the intentions of swimming across, but found a boat that while they initially tried to charge us to take us across, gave us a ride for free after they saw we were serious about swimming and didn't want to pay. It was a great day but I am not sure I could handle another straight day on the river. Some people go and stay there a week! Mostly the British though.
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gram & Grandpa Lane
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Laos--Tubing
Your pictures give us a really good look at how millions are living. Beautiful countries but still makes us grateful we live in America. Certainly interesting. We look forward to seeing what's next!