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Vang Vieng....Vang Vieng Vang Vieng Vang Vieng....'The land of Tubing'
WE have been looking forward to tubing for the past 15 months since we left!!!! And now here we were, about to do it! WE booked a week online at a hostel Id found called SpicyLoas.....we arrievd, it seemed a little out fo town and we were like..oh no!! wrong choice!!
Then we got inside......it was amazing. Its all wooden built, our dorm was an open tree house!! It had a herbal sauna outside, hut toilets, a hut communal area, dvd movie room! It ws soooooooo lovey, and so perfect, and then family running it seeemed amazign - it was run by a man caled Pong!
Im not even sure where to begin to descibe Vang Veing!!! But I will do my best!! Firstly, the people we had in our little spicy crew where more than perfect - there was about 15 of us and each and everyone of them were amazing!! we all went down tot he river together for our firsr tubing experience!! Tubing - firstly, i should probably explain!!
Right, along the river, which by the way is stunning!! There is a number of bars...11 to be exact. That are dotted either side of the river. People hiretubes which are like big hard black rubber ring things, which you drift down the river in, and the bars will throw you ropes to bring you in and drink in there bar! When your doen, you jump back in, and off to the next bar you go! Also.....down at the bars is loads of zip wires, rope swings, and free shots and bannanas!!!
SO! The days go, you get up, get your breakfast at the hostel, chill, all go out for lunch, then pay yoru 10,000 kip to get downt he river and off yo go!! Party until 8sih, come back soaking!!! Then get changed, go out for dinner, then off to some more bars for yoru free buckets!! Buckets, to those ofyou who dont know, are buckets (obviously!!), fillled with many manyy shots of the liquor of yoru choice, (in my cse tiger whisky as its the cheapest!!), a mixer, and red bull. and baout 10 straws. which you drink, allllllllll to yoruself! YUM!
RIGHT, so where was i!? Yes, sooooo the first day at the river was an experience!! We went with our lil spicy crew, then saw emma and emily down there from the bus to, YAY! and partied on!! WE didnt take tubes though, we just kinda swam it all, which was just as fun and alot easier and cheaper!! awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.i had such a fun day - got CRAZY drunk, came back 0- eevryone got changed bar me, 1) because i was lying in bed!! and 2) i was conviced iw as dry anyway!!. anyways! managed to getmyself out to party anyway, and partied again all night!!
Most of the days pretty much took this pattern, people left, more peolpe came to joint he spicy crew!!! The crew that we had for th last 4/5 days were the best, and i love them all so much and i miss them so much now!! come back spicy!!!
Ok, what else!! Ok so on the 14th-16th it was laos new year, which was insaane! Its a 3 day celebration where the meaning behind it is to cleanse everything in yruo hosue and budha, so basically have a HUGE water fight!! And yuo cant describe how it is, you have to be therwe! But basuically you have the right to soak everyone!! ON the street, in cars, motor bikes!! Everyone buys guns, has buckets of water, an soaks the entire of laos!! It was so fun!! WE got our whole hostel togther, and went to meet all of pongs local friends, and we stood byt he road soaking everyone!! was so funny! then he made us a masisve bucket to drink whcih i face planted!! Then it was off down to the river, more partying! woooooooo! Then unfortunatly sian hurt her foot, ha dto go home. INsisted i stayed, i got suitably hammered, staggered home later - to find her wanting to go to hostpital!! so had to pull myself together and take us!!! She had alot of injections, and i tried to focus and be helpful!! The tuk tuk driver helped too! I then had to wander of to get cash for her to pay, took me an hour wandering in the middle of no wherre int he dark to finally find an atm, came back and paid! Oh and hald way througth eh hostpital, thankfully afetr they were done with sian there was an electical explosion in town a assive fire and the whole of vang viengs power was out! good times!!
The nest day was still new year, and today pong organised lots of fun activeities!! Started off with river fishing, which was atcually fishing for fish, with yoru bare hands, knee height in thick mud!! i was all over it, trying, until a massive bee caem, and i peletd it out of the mud as fast as i could and watched everyone else instead hehe, was stil fun tho!!! aahahaha after that we all went to clean in the river, as that was actually the only way we cuold as we had no water at ths hostel!! The rest of the day pong then said i cuold helf him cook buffalo, so me and amy chopped it all up to make traditional laos food called laap!! whcih was o fun!! then we all cooked it for a communal evenign meal for everynoe, it was so nice!! Then i went uot to party some more. wooooooooooooooo!!!!!
There is so much more, and i could go on for horus tellig you all about all th drunken stories and madness that went on but there is one thing i need to talk about!!
On our last night..........there was a huge storm. Its hard to picture but yes, as i said, i was staying in a tree huose, but i was actually on the bottom, at the front, thats a massive open area outside, not covered. Right, so im in bed, trying to sleep. and i get woken up by horrific rain....which then turns into pretty loud thunder, then sheet lighting that gets more and more freakwent. So i start to worry a ltitle, but try and ignroe it, and just sorta watch until i see some fork lightning so im like, ok!! calm, clam calm clam!!! then i realsie, we're pretty much in he eye of the storm, and THEN fork ligthning strikes a coconut tree lietrallt about 6/7 metres away from my bed. ive never sreamed so loud, pelt it to sians bed, as did all the other girls, and we all huddle under the mossy net in tears, it was terrfifying. This went on for anotehrhour or so, then it seemed to move away. i went back to my bed and tried to go to sleep but was to scared!! i must of drifted off, in the monring i looked at rhe tree it hit, it was all black and frazzled, cut all power inthe hostel and struck the modem for the internet. ahhhhhhhhhh. horrible.
That mornign was actaully the day we were leaving for Luamprabang - so we all had anice morninf reminsiing of the night before!!! then all chilled out toegther, cos pracitcally everyone was leaving that day!!!! took lots of lovely group photos, got all 13 of us into a hammock for max of 7!! and god a gorgeous pic!! perfect last few horus with everyone before Sian and I headed up, while everyone else headed down.....
I MISS THEM ALL SO MUCH ALREADY!!
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Luamprapang.
Well well well - what a place. what a place to get to and what a place to be in!! Its been an interesting few days here to say the least!! We had the bus journey from hell to get here. A mini van through mountians. The thing is the scenery was actually really beautiful and i wish i was relaxed enough to appreciate it. But we had a driver who insisted on going about 100 miles an hour, on roads that were barely big enough for 1 car, let alone two, or a van, or a truck!! He raced around everywhere, there was whole trees blocking the roads, we were very close t alot of head on collions where he liekd to over take on blinde bends, on cliff edges, children ran out into th e roads from trees beggin whhich we nearly hit serveal times, a man with a shot gun stopped us at one point rryign to rob us i think, it was terrifying. from the night befiore of the lightnung thing, and then that. i literally felt like i was about to have a heart attack. Thankfully, we got here in one piece!!!! Only to find out, that you cant get to hanoi (vietnam) from here, you need to go thee from vientiene, which we travelled through to get to vang vieng. right at the bottom of the country. We were told we now needed to go back down through Vang Vieng then to vietiene. a 10 hour bus journey (back onhat road of death!!) then wait in the bus station all day, to then get a 36 huor bus journey into Vietnam. I wanted to cry!!! So afteer much shouting, anger and debate!! WE decided to just fly from here, which is very pricey, and we'd nevr normally do that but we just cuoldnt do that road again. I couldnt put myself through it!! And the bus from there theni n to vietnam is even worse.....its posted all over the internet, dont be a hero....just fly!!!! urgggggg!
So after much debate and deciding to definalty fly...we went to try and book it, and my card wouldnt work!! so i then had to get on the dudes motorbike, bike to his other hsop and try it there (bearing in mind im so scared of bikes since sian burned herself onthe exhaust!!) so the hwole way i drobe with my legs out like frogs legs so i couldn burn them!! At the otehr shop, my card still wouldnt work, i practicaly broke down int he shop shouting at the whole world!! Then i said, ok, try one more time!! and it worked!! yay!! so then we biked back to the otehr shop, the power went out half waythruoght booking...of course it did - ths was a great day! haha. it came back on later, and as far as i no it worked!! s then we go ut for dinner, order tuna salads.....20 mins later they come back , 'im sorry miss, because of a cyclone....the market catn get lettuce, so you cant have a salad, we can do it with water cress...' ofcourse,
OFCOURSE!!
AHRRRRRRRRRRRHGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So we RE order, and i order a herbal tea....10 mins later they come back
'i sorry miss we no have that tea' at this poit i pretty much laugh in his face!! and im like ok...ok il have this one!! no have, this one!?! no have, then he tells me to go to the herbal tea shop dwnthe road and order it myself. at this point im so beypnd caring its to funny, so i go and get tea. tyurns out to be alovely tea, and the other food we had was lovely! So worked out great!! Just a pretty hectic, mad, awfuil, all overthe pace. CRAZY carzy crazy day.
Brnig on Vietnam
ha
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