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This is the third attempt I have had writing about our experience in Vang Vieng my first was just over a week ago as I just couldnt seem to word it so that it didnt sound so negative, so here I go again.
When we travelled to Louangprabang we thought the scenery was amazing but nothing could prepare us for the scenery on the way to Vang Vieng by bus. You could never describe the full beauty of it or capture by photo no matter how many you took. The bus journey was also a big experience and at times quite terrifying when you sit on this big bus and watch it go around corners and then pass another vehicle without actually veering off the road and down a sheer drop. It was something out of the programme on SKY, Extreme Truckers, anyone that has watched it will know what I mean. I would imagine that before tourists started visiting Vang Vieng, locals had probably not seen a big colour full bus pass through their villages but now it was an every day occurrence and it was not without a a wave or a smile from them. We arrived at the bus station and a line of song thaews were waiting to take us to our hotels or guest houses. Our hotel looked just the photo on the Internet so we was relieved when we booked in at reception by a woman whom spoke really good English. By sheer coincidence the family that were staying in the same hotel as us in Louanprabang that left that morning were sitting in the bar of the same hotel. We was disappointed when we got to our room, although the photo on reception was the same as Internet the room certainly was not. It had a concrete floor, scratchy old blanket on the bed and it was one of those moments when you just want to pick your bags up and leave, butwe thought we would stay and see what tomorrow brought us.
We left the hotel and walked into the town of Vang Vieng.
In 1999 an Organic Farmer bought some rubber tubes for his volunteers working on his farm so they could relax and unwind on the river. When tourists started to arrive it became so popular that villagers started opening up little bars on the river to as a way of offering refreshments to the thirsty tourists and this is how the tubing progressed from lazy to crazy trips down the Nam Song River.
Last year it was reported that 27 death occurred in Vang Vieng from the tubing and so now the locals won't swim in the river as they believe it has been cursed due to all the accidents and deaths. Each bar, resturant and food stand all sell the same food at the same price and they play an episode of friends so you can sit in one and hear the episode of another being played in the bar next door.
There is a lot of building work going on and in middle of the town is the most hideous big hotel being built which takes up the whole of the town square. It looks like it is going to be some big luxury hotel, but as the percentage of Vang Veing is young back packers you wonder who would stay in this luxury hotel once it's built.
We went along the river and found a bar with the most amazing view and sunset. When a young guy came to take our order he asked Lee if he was doctor, we was a bit puzzled as to why he would ask that, he then asked me what work did I do, we then chatted to him and it turned out he had a mouth full of ulcers and couldn't talk properly and did we know of anything he could take to help his sore mouth. I asked if there was a pharmacy in the town and wrote down on a piece of paper that he needed some anti septic mouth wash. He was chuffed with this information, took our order then off he went to the pharmacy. He came back just as we was leaving and was really pleased that they did in fact sell anti septic mouth wash, so we walked away smiling.
Whilst sitting in a bar later that evening it was the end of the day for the tubers and we saw many walking around very drunk, some with injuries, others were covered in paint but were in good spirits and look they they had had a good time.
All the time we was trying to stay positive about Vang Vieng so when we returned to the hotel we had a chat with the owner Michael and he recommended a trip for us. This trip involved a short trip on the river tubing, a bit of canoeing and walking through some caves into a lagoon. We booked to stay another night and was pleased that we would be doing something the next day and experiencing something in Vang Vieng. Well that all changed by the next morning as after having a sleep ness night due to the hotel being alive at night and hearing people throwing up over the balcony we decided VV was not for us. We had breakfast and went to the nearest tour shop and booked the next bus out. Before we left we took a walk around the town and had a drink in a cafe, there we saw some people that we travelled with along the Mekong and three of them had injuries, one had a lovely big black eye, one had his hand in a splint and the other was walking quite badly with some injury to his leg. So we was happy we had the made the decision to leave as VV was defiantly not for us. So next stop Vientiane.
- comments
suethurston Looks like your have such a good time, photos have been amazing, so jealous. Your not missing much in the UK (apart from your family), weather rubbish. Impressed you remember all the names of the places you have visited, I can't say half of them!!.