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If there is only one thing you hear being talked about in regards to Laos, it is probably Vang Vieng and tubing- so it was with some excitement that I headed on the journey north.
I had sent Paddy up ahead to sort out accommodation whilst I was waiting for my Thai visa. I got a lovely local bus up and rang Paddy. Unfortunately for me when he got there he had headed straight to the bars and was absolutely hammered. It took me an hour to find him as every time I rang to ask him where he was he had no idea of the bar name! Needless to say he also hadn't sorted out any accommodation!!
So Vang Vieng, just to give you the picture has grown exponentially. It is based beside the river and, as I have already said, is most famous for tubing. Tubing? Floating down the river in a rubber tyre and getting pulled into the various bars. It is basically a massive river bar crawl!
There are about 10 bars down the river but it is unusual to get past the first couple. Why? Well, stepping off the tuk tuk with my tub ready to launch into the river, I was greeted with a free whisky shot (or 2, or 3...) There are then the whisky buckets, getting progressively cheaper at each bar you reach.
Each bar also has its own unique form of rope swing. After the whisky shots but before I could reach the first bar, I saw a girl swinging down a rope swing and landing in the water. Now health and safety does not really apply in Laos, and I had heard many horror tales of people cutting themselves on the rocks or in some extreme cases even dying. A few weeks before a girl had died coming off a water slide head first. She was hammered but it still scared me a bit! But the party had to go on! I assessed the swings and realised, with relief, I could not go on one even if I wanted to because you drop too deep in the water. Not wanting to risk further damage to ears it automatically ruled out the swings and slide.
Being able to break away from the first bar we actually started the tubing experience. It was surreal floating down a muddy river in a tyre. Before we got a 100 yards, a rope was flung out to me and before I knew it I was pulled into the second bar. Another swing line dominated the bar, flinging more unwary suspects into the brown water. Again more free shots were offered.
After a whisky bucket we headed down to the next bar as this one had a mud pit! It was hilarious. After being pulled out the water, we climbed up to the bar and slid straight into the pit. I was wearing a light blue top, which when I came out of the pit was brown. Hopefully the mud had some beneficial properties!! This carried on for a couple more bars and was absolutely hilarious. So much fun.
The other thing that Vang Vieng used to be known for (before tubing) was the beautiful scenery. Flat lands are suddenly imposed by dramatic, rugged outcrops of mountains. The rocks are covered in trees, giving it a lush green feel. Floating down the river, it was lovely to enjoy the scenery, well before being pulled into the next bar! Sometimes you would miss the rope as the current carried you downstream. Then one of the bar staff would jump into the water and pull your tyre to the rope. Well you don't want to miss out on the drinks!
Finally, as it was starting to get dark we headed back to hand in the tubs. This meant floating down stream for a good half hour. I had no idea how far to go and it felt like you would float forever! Sometimes the water got choppy which added to the fun. Then just as it was about to go night dark, some people were in the water pulling the tubs to land. It was a brilliant day, which carried on into the night in the land bars. I would certainly recommend it to anyone. For those scared of the dangers, no one i knew got hurt that day!
The final thing to say about Vang Vieng is 'Friends'. Nearly every bar had Friends on repeat back to back, or if not Friends the Simpsons or Family Guy. How the staff do not go mad is beyond me. I was only there a couple of days and that was enough!
Vang Vieng- a mad town but full of fun.
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