Blogs from Vang Vieng, West, Laos, Asia - page 17

Advertisement

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 30th 2011

On our second day in Laos our travelling crew departed for the journey north to Vang Vieng! This is a small town where most travelers rock up to participate in some much needed fun of Tubing! Tubing takes place on the Nam Song River which is lined with bars, ziplines, rivers jumps and chutes! This does sound like a recipe for disaster but it’s a big attraction that is unique to Laos and that all travelers must take in. Tubing has been something we were all looking forward to before we left home, everyone who had been says it was a great experience! The night before our excitement took over and we all ended up buying ‘tubing vests’ for the occasion. So our day started by hiring an ‘inner tube’ (which is a bright black and ... read more
Tubing starts here...
One of the craaazy chutes!
All 'tubed up'

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 30th 2011

A Bunch of Tubes in Sunny Laos! Sabaideee!!! Thats hello to you and me...! Well after weeks of buses, borders, temples and markets the time had finally come to catch up with some old friends. Months earlier we had deliberated where and when we could meet and after much toing and frowing the stunning Laos outback was strategically chosen for our rendezvous. No coincedence then that this was the one place we could truly let out hair down and do what comes most naturally to young Scots abroad – ie. drink lots of booze and act like complete *##%*!! Oh yes, it was time to descend on the stunning Vang Vieng Valley and try our hands at the ancient Laos tradition of tubing!! After meeting up with Tina and Paul back in Vietnam, we all headed ... read more
The Vang Vieng Valley
Buckets!!
Ready to Go!

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 29th 2011

22/01/2010 - 24/01/2010 Next I moved on to Vang Vieng; already heard loads of crazy stories about this place from other travellers...and to be honest it IS a crazy place!! We arrived in Vang Vieng in the evening around 8pm where we were welcomed by english guys/girls...all pissed drunk!!! The place is known for its tubing: floating down the Meking river on a truck tube while stopping at several bars on the side. You wouldn't think you are in Laos. The entire village/city is full with drunk english and australians day in day out, almost 24/7. Being a good tourist I wanted to see what it s all about.. so Gustavo and me went to check out the main tubing area. You have to admit the surroundings are amazing: you have the Mekong river, the great ... read more
party!!
with my 2 brazilian friends
....says it all:)

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 29th 2011

Woke up feeling nicely refreshed considering the slightly later one than usual last night and it’s madness!! I decide to go for a bike ride up to the blue lagoon and another cave before hitting tubing again in the afternoon, well the bike ride was on slightly rough terrain, normal bikes definitely seem to to be made stronger here to cope with this as not a single puncture yet : -)Well the 45 minute ride was worth it and had a good swim amongst the swans and ducks in the lagoon before heading over to explore the cave, this unfortunately is right at the top of the mountain that I hadn’t envisaged on, knowing I had to be back for afternoon tubing session! BUT I was there and seemed rude not to so trudged up the ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 28th 2011

Yet again we woke up to the alarm as had an early start trekking but felt surprisingly good considering the drunken fun of the day and night before – this curfew business defintely isn’t a bad idea, you just have to remember to start drinking a bit earlier in the day than usual, ha! Well seems this is the morning of the second kettle disaster, Karen knocking it over, not realising it’s full, only at least this time it’s not positioned over the bed so slightly easier to explain away, haha! Also the electric is back on so finally back to morning tea:-) We get picked up for our trek and travel by truck for about 20 minutes with some other guys, but yet again it’s only us 2 going trekking, so we have our own ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 27th 2011

Woke up quite early to a power cut (damn no cup of tea!) but gives me no excuse not to do some yoga so make the most of the balcony, but afraid this one only has a running tap rather than a waterfall in the background, ha! I imagine power cuts must be common here as the main restaurants have generators so i manage a mint tea elsewhere before we set off tubing for the day.... Well this comprises of hiring a huge inner tube and taking a tuk tuk to the river and floating down in the tube, with bars a plenty in between, we get chatting to a girl, Linda from Ireland and together we trek to the tubing start point where the first bar is, all agreeing how we'll save the alcohol until ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 26th 2011

Today's our last morning here with our bus due to pick us up at 1.30 Vang Vien bound, but we want to make the most of it here so we have a cycle down to the Mekong and along it taking in places we hadn 't had a chance to see on foot. We cycled over a bridge which then took us to the non-touristy part of Luang Prabang, this was quite interesting seeing how the real people live, the ones who don't still live in the old bamboo type style villages, we passed a market, had a quick look around then headed back to the tourist part where the food was defintely better (ha!) and had a chill out in yet another pretty bar before making our way back along the Mekong and back in ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 23rd 2011

Vang Vieng  03/01/11 - 07/01/11 The bus dropped us off after about 4 hours (supposed to take 3) outside a crappy guesthouse (obvious ploy) on Th Luang Prabang (the main road). We picked the 'Inthira Hotel' out of the LP and it was just a few buildings to left (looking at the guesthouse / away from the river). It cost $29 per night so we started to make some progress in our budgeting!! Vang Vieng is a backpacker haven due to 'Tubing' - it is a must do for travellers coming here so there are loads! Apart from tubing however Vang Vieng has stunning scenery with it's tall limestone karsts lining the river that you can tube or kayak down. Vang Vieng is also famous for it's caves which are accessible by bicycle or motorcycle but ... read more
The 2nd bar with Emma, Aidy and Markos
Were cool
Grey Tubes

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 18th 2011

Our journey to Vang Vieng was one along many winding mountain roads. Nearing Vang Vieng around sunset, we had stunning views over the jagged mountain ridges, absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately that was one of the only enjoyable elements to the journey, as our ride (you guessed it: another VIP minivan!) was a cramped little van with 12 people with leg space based on the average Lao person...(read: no leg space). We met two Belgians in our van and they, like us, were also looking for a place to stay outside of the town centre, as Vang Vieng has several streets lined with bars and restaurants playing loud music or reruns of Friends and Family Guy to attract the typical Vang Vieng visitor; 18-21 year old backpackers looking for a party. Now there are several exceptions of course, ... read more
Views on the way to Vang Vieng
Walking bridge with views
More views on the way to vang vieng

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng January 18th 2011

Quand on va au Laos et qu’on est jeune, backpacker et en bonne santé, Vangvieng est une étape obligée. Ceci est peut-être moins vrai pour les personnes sensibles du foie.. Cependant, une des raisons principales est qu’on y trouve un paysage ex-tra-or-di-naire. La vue sur les montagnes en permanence est absolument époustouflante. Certains l’ont déjà peut-être subtilement compris, mais pour ne pas y aller par quatre chemins, je vais clairement vous dire que c’est certainement l’endroit le plus trash et le plus dingue où je n’avais jamais été jusqu’à maintenant dans ma vie. J’ai pourtant fait des gros festivals de musique électronique un peu partout dans le monde, notamment une Creamfields à Buenos Aires, assisté à des concerts des meilleurs DJ de la planète, à une époque où j’étais un peu foufou, mais là, impossible de ... read more
Idem !
Fisherman
Coucher de soleil




Tot: 0.101s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 7; qc: 66; dbt: 0.0545s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb