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View from my Hammock
Laying back in the hammock with such beauty surrounding me, how lucky am I? Ah what can I say about Vang Vieng, the stuff that is made from backpacker legend. Everywhere that I traveled I heard tales of insanity and fun in this little picturesque town that is framed by limestone Carsts and the Nam Song River. Most people that had traveled through South East Asia had named Laos as their favorite destination, with Vang Vieng being their favorite town. As we climbed higher and higher from Vientienne we were greeted with superb scenery and beautiful landscapes. I was really looking forward to coming here and I certainly wasn't to be disappointed. The town itself was quite small with only a couple of roads running through it, but the main focus of our attention would be the river that surrounded the town.
We found some really nice accommodation that was located in the cool shade on the island that is across from the main town. We didn't know it at the time, but the Island was the place for late night partying with all the best bars on it, like the Bucket, Sunset, Joker Bars to name but a few. Our house was heaven compared to what we had in Don Dhet. For one,
The Swings
Swinging into the river from a platform ontop of a dodgy bamboo construction, nerve wrecking but always good fun. we were allowed the luxury of a lie in, because it was not sweltering hot in the morning. The building also didn't feel like it could collapse at any second and we had a fan/electricity that ran all night...however all this came at a price, our accommodation was now the total of eight dollars between us!!
We decided to partake in the infamous tubing experience. This meant hopping on a little pick up come tuk tuk contraption and heading to the river. The first day there I felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Especially when I saw the "swings" that we were supposed to jump off. They were no more than a rickety bamboo scaffolding with a piece of rope and a handlebar attached. My fear was heightened when one of the guys that we were tubing with, ended up nearly killing himself when he let go of the swing prematurely and landed in shallow water with a triumphant belly flop! The crowds watching from one of the riverside bars held their communal breath for what seemed like an eternity until he finally appeared from the water and gave us an embarrassed smile. Well, the bar nearly exploded
Tubin
So much fun to be had in a rubber donut! with cheers and clapping. He became an instant hero on the river circuit, everyone was talking about "that guy".
After a beer Laos for some Dutch courage I climbed up the scaffolding that seemed to swaying in the wind (to be honest, I think this was my imagination). When I got to the top I nearly freaked out. I mean it looked high from below, but when you got up there, it was BLOODY HIGH. I sat there for what seemed like five minutes going: "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Eventually I got myself together and stood up to the plate. I grabbed on hard to the handle bar, knuckles turned ice white (to ensure I didn't make an early drop like "that guy") and closed my eyes and jumped. I landed in the water in a not too bad splash. Was all over in a couple of seconds and the relief flooded all over me. Realised what a wimp I was being and was glad that I embraced my fear and just went with it. I think that it is a metaphor for my trip and traveling in general, if you think about it too much the
So Green
So green, so beautiful! fear can grip you and stop you doing something you want to do. If you just go with it, you will have so much fun and begin to think...what was I ever afraid of?
That was just the beginning of the experience, there were plenty more swings and bars to frequent along the way. After a while we all moved onto the whiskey buckets and the higher swings for even more of a thrill. We danced, played table tennis, had mud fights, card drinking games (including a new one horse race), ate some food and general shenanigans. The whole day was amazing, the group that we started with had grown larger and we all had so much fun.
There was a big gap between bars near the end of the river and that gave you the opportunity to wind down and appreciate where you were. Just laying back on my tube, looking upwards to stunning green carsts reaching up to the crystal blue sky, I had another moment...one of many on my travels, where I felt so lucky to be able to do this trip, to see these things, meet all these people and have such a good
The Gang
The tubin crew, we swore we wouldn't be going AGAIN, but by the time we finished breakfast we were all on board! time. It is times like these that I think back to home and how far removed it seems. There is this whole other world going on around us, even when we are just plodding along doing the usual day to day mundane things.
The nights were spent on the island, where music was belted out way past the hours of the twelve o'clock curfew. You would dance and chat with the friends that you had made on the river that day. Continuing on with the bucket theme and throwing some cocktails into the mix. This was usually followed my a late night Thai Style Pancake on the way home. A yummy SUGARY lemony pancake that was cooked until extra crispy, it is then cut into squares which you eat one by one with a toothpick type eating utensil.
In the beginning I thought that once on the river would be enough, in the end we did it three times, which is apparently not alot, I met people on the way there for the ninth time! In most of the guidebooks it says, people always stay in Vang Vieng for longer than they first expected. This is so true, there were people there that even started working at the bars to fund their daily tubing fix. We stayed for five days in total, think we were able to peel ourselves away sooner than most. To be honest I really enjoyed my time there but I was ready to go then.
Other than the tubing and visiting the caves in Vang Vieng, there was the infamous "Friends" and "Family Guy" bars where they play re-runs of both all day long. I went to one of these on one hung over afternoon, but ended up snoozing on their couch rather than actually watching anything. It was one of the touristy things that I just couldn't get into, seems a bit pointless staying in and watching tv when there is better things to be doing with your time.
Overall, Vang Vieng was not a very cultural or innately Laos experience, but for me it was more about the people that I met. There was a great mixture of characters from all walks of life. There were hippies who lived there who could be found smoking a joint at 9am in the morning, fellow travelers from Europe, the Americas, Oceania and and even Thai people on short holidays from neighboring Thailand.
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James
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HEy Emma
Hey Emma, you big hippie. Glad you're having so much fun. I bet you wished you stayed there even longer now that you're in expensive Australia eh? :*