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Claire & Steve's Excellent Adventure
A sweaty 4 hour bus journey - no air con and tiny windows along with a stinking hangover - found us in Vang Vieng and at first glance it resembled a building site as they are constructing a new road both around and through the tiny town. We flip-flopped our way through the mud and rubble to find a guest house which was a bargain at US$4 per night before hitting the road (or mud path) to explore. It was only as we made our way down to the river that we actually opened our eyes a bit more to see the stunning scenery that surrounded us. It was reminiscent of Halong Bay in Vietnam but on land rather than on the sea - there were numerous huge green mountains dotted along the banks of the river that seemed to completely dwarf the town. Its a bit of a backpackers place but it is easy to see why....gorgeous scenery, cheap accommodation, friendly locals and restaurants with big lounge seats on which to lie and watch episode after episode of Friends or The Simpsons!
We spent the evening of my birthday with a couple we met on the bus, playing pool (a bit tricky when the table is bowed) and sipping Beer Lao. I also got given a large shot of Lao Lao (local whiskey) from the barman which was absolutely vile but I did also get a lovely serving of chocolate cake complete with candles and a rendition of "Happy Birthday".
After a lovely, long lie-in (because yesterday was so stressful) we got a motorbike out to some of the many caves that are in Vang Vieng. We crossed the bridge into a pretty little village and trekked across the paddy fields with our guide (who didn't actually say anything) to enter the cave. We found ourselves faced with a huge Buddha statue inside the cave - they just get everywhere. After equipping us with some torches we followed our guide into the cave for a 2km trek. I lasted about 5 minutes before deciding that I had seen quite enough of the cave and wasn't keen on being in such an enclosed, dark place for the next hour.
After dropping me off back at the entrance I bade Steve farewell as he re-entered the gloom and I spent some time getting to know the local teenage population. There is no difference in Laos teenagers to those found in the UK....smoking ciggies, drinking beer, lying around doing nothing etc, etc.
Steve reported a good journey into the cave - lots of stalagmites/tites, crystal formations, tricky paths to cross, an underground pool complete with shrimp, Lara Croft, man-eating tigers, Shaolin Monks....ok, ok, only kidding about the monks!!
Anyway, he emerged unscathed and after watching the local children playing in the river and a crazy puppy trying to terrorise the cattle we headed back to Van Vieng to meet up with Carly and Blair and a gang of other people who attached themselves to us during the course of the evening.
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