Vang Vieng and Vientienne

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21st March
After hearing lots of positive things about Vang Vieng we decided to take a visit there. Its a travellers Mecca to go there in Laos with the main attraction being "Tubing". We took a minibus for what we expected to be 5 hours however in true Laos fashion it ended up being 7 hours.! We quite possibly had the slowest driver from Luang Prebang with mopeds and big tanker lorries overtaking along the way, nevertheless with steep mountain roads and accute meandering curves we were more than happy to take it slowly! Furthermore our driver would just stop for a break and be in no hurry to get to our destination! One time in particular he stopped and bought what looked like a flying squirral hanging up on a local stall as we drove passed. So, 2 hours late we finally arrived in Vang Vieng where we found a guesthouse with minor birds welcoming you with there copied squark and a view that looked over the Nam Song River. Although we opted for the cheaper rooms without river view we could still admire the beautiful scenery with huge limestone karsts providing a backdrop to die for. On the downside the town has been overun by travellers and its commercialised atmosphere provides a shadow over the towering karst landscape. In the evening we had dinner on a lazy table, with cushions to lie down on - we picked one with amazing views!. Fortunately because the Laos resteraunts were unable to add up, for the second time we managed to save about 4quid/50000 kip!. So to celebrate, the 7 of us went to tryout the local bars, with the imaginatively named bucket bar being the first stop! Set along side the river and accross a rickity bridge, the bucket bar had 4 platformed dance areas with hammocks around it and fires in the middle. With our "winnings" we went for a few whisky buckets!. A wicked loaction with a real party atmosphere, we had a good night!.

22nd March
The weather was scorching and hungover from the night before we seeked a little shade before doing Tubing. Tubing is essentially sitting in a rubber doughnut floating down a lazy river.! To spice it up the river is sidelined by bars selling cocktails and the infamous beer loas, coupled with huge ziplines and ropeswings towering above the deep river- Potentially incredibly dangerous particularly with ropeswing jumpers splashing into the waters right beside you!. Still though I tried them out and wobbly legged I climbed the bamboo ladder upto the jump platform. I flew down and hit the end of the zipline catapolting me into a summersault before crashing into the water, hurting my shoulders from the zipline impact putting Nik off any rope action for the day!. The atmosphere was so strange! At 1:00pm people were hammered and it was more like club18-30 rather than the travelling we had seeked out. After a go on the highrope swing bombing into the water we gently and soberly tubed down to the less populated part of the river, where I was happy to indulge in some slide action! Afterwards we continued onwards with the stunning limstone karsts in very close proximity. Niks tube was too large for her and so like an insect stuck on water she splashed to gain some speed - in the end she was tired and needed a tow by me! After a quick paddle we managed to get back in time without incuring any penalties! the evening consisted with relaxation and a some food in one of the money restaurants with friends on the TV. An exciting and unique day! Well wortha visit before it gets even more commercial!

23rd March
We had breakie overlooking the incredible scenery to say goodbye to Vang Vieng, Then set off inbound to Vientienne - the capital of Laos - still saw from floating and splashing whilst Tubing. Armed with baguettes for the journey ahead we proceeded to the bus station where we opted for the local public bus. Maybe in the 60's the bus would have been top of the range but the rundown tin can was far from in good condition now, the occasional waft of piss was also a nice touch! Unlike most of Laos the bus left on time and after a few immediete stops the bus was full with people standing in the isles. Laos people dont have any concept of personal space, so our friend had a Laos man sleeping on her shoulder and with my gangly legs spreading into the isle another Laos man was pretty much perching on my knee. Even with a fans and windows open the bus was hot and sweaty and even our tuna baguettes felt the heat! We arrived in Vientienne and crammed in a Tuk-Tuk-Pick up in search of a guesthouse, without any initial joy. Finally after finding one in our budget we desweated and freshioned up to have dinner with the rest of the group. We ate along the riverside, noticing an enormous thunderstorm powering in the distance. Before you new it the wind picked up and the fork lightening lit up the sky and crashed around us. Our bamboo restaurant being overpowered by the ferosious* winds and table clothes and chairs flying everywhere. The silt also being picked up creating a melie of rain and dust around us. We ate up then took refuge back to our guesthouse.

The following day we relaxed ahead of a long bus ride to Hanoi, Vietnam. During a chilled out walk yet on an incredibly hot and humid day we visited the local day market and was very happy to see it had been upgraded into an airconditioned centre. On the down side the shops were poor so Nik couldnt take full advantage. At the top of the main road is the Laos version of the Arc De triomphe, so we went to take a look only to find that the people of Laos hadnt had time to finish it and personally described it on a sign as "a monster of concrete," hardly enticing you to go to it!! Still we walked up it and saw some nice views of Vientienne, worth a look just for that. At 5:00pm we were picked up for our bus journey to Hanoi and were shuttled on to a minibus to go to the main bus stop. Here we found a seemingly comfortable bus yet without enough room to store luggage underneath, resulting in the bus isle completely covered in bags leaving even less leg room for me! In these situations you can only be light hearted and so just have to go with it. Within our first hour we unfortunately saw two seperate fatal motorbike accidents that had just happened I said to Nik "are you sure he was dead".. Nik replied "well his head wasnt where it was supposed to be".. this certainly put us off renting a mo-ped in Hanoi and also left us unsuspectful of what we were about to go through on the journey ahead. Even worse the Laos bus drivers throughly enjoy playing the same songs through the speakers over and over again and making it almost impossible to sleep. Also along the way we found ourselves stopping regularly to make errands and drop of friends. However in our eyes its all part of it! We finally made it to the Vietnam border only to 3 1/2 hours early so what time we could we tried to get a little sleep. This was prevented by a man zooming away from the border on a motorbike followed by another man from the border sprinting passed us with a gun and shouting causing some of the passengers to run back onto the bus. When able to cross the border it was a little unorganised and chaotic, at one point Nik also thought she had her purse stolen only to find she had put it in my bag ready for the scan machine!.

Finally once into Vietnam the surroundings were a luscious green tropical jungle with cloudy pockets resting on the tree tops. A very welcoming sight and worth the sleepless bus journey just to see it. Further along the winding yet calm road we were met by a sea of fresh watery rice fields that ouzed the life of the Vietnamese paddy workers dressed with there traditional hats. The houses along the roadside were different to what we had previously seen in Thailand and Laos, you get the sence of socialist unorganisation what with the long rectangular concrete blocks placed speradically like a hectic tetris game, furthermore the propeganda posters and the yellow star on an occoasional Vietnamese flag blowing in the wet angry sky offered a different representation of this luscious country, one more like a war veteran than a booming nation. The road traffic is crazy with the horn regularly being used to signal an overtake or potential head on collision.!! Nevertheless after !!27 hours!! on the bus we arrived safely into Hanoi ready to explore the real Vietnam...

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