Viengvilay Guesthouse Vang Vieng

... was at a collection of stalls and I was shocked to see a local lady squatting down beside a small fire of bamboo roasting small rats on sticks &#8211; it&#8217;s a memory that&#8217;s going to stay with me for a long time! <br><br>We arrived in Vien Viang for a night&#8217;s stay knowing it was a bit of a partying area for younger backpackers but I&#8217;m not sure we really appreciated ...

... Luang Prabang and have taken it easy just wandering around this beautiful laid back city. Yesterday we ran into some friends from our hotel in Vang Vieng and went to a Lao-Lao bbq with them. Basically it's food you cook yourself over a hotpot of coals. They give you broth, noodles, veg, eggs, and your choice of meat. So good! Felt good to cook ...

... so Mark moved into my room. We were neither of us in any fit state for tubing, so we decided to be lazy *******s. We went to the Friends cafe, as usual, for breakfast: another Full English, as had become culture-shunningly traditional. After this we sat watching Friends episodes for a couple of hours, then went on the internet for a bit. We then headed back to the guesthouse, had showers, got changed, then went back out again. Around 7pm we ate dinner at ...

... about 6.30pm (I'm guessing) we got a tuk-tuk back to town, the ******** driver demanding 20,000K each and refusing to leave until we'd paid in full.<br><br>Back in town, Mark and I collected our possessions from the kindly internet place woman, before probably stumbling back over the bridges and fields to our guesthouse. We both had showers and were definitely singing ridiculous songs at each other between the shower rooms, before we got ready; I put music on afterwards ...

... reasons! We decided then to walk back along the shore to Bar I and see if anyone we knew was there. On re-arrival, we immediately spotted Darren, Matt and Charlotte so we got another drink and stayed a while, until we all got another tube and headed to Bar II. Unfortunately, but this point the alcohol had kicked in a fair bit; I sat in my tube, with my vest and flip-flops in my lap, but when I went to climb out of the water, I hopped out of the tube, handed it ...

... that it was going to be intermittent, if not continuous.<br>I took it and rode off using the planked bridge to cross the Namsong, avoiding the paying bridge - a mistake I made last time - costing 6,000 Kip. I made it to the other side, thankfully, almost getting my feet wet missing one rickety bridge but retraced my steps.<br>A whole array of bike problems was soon to follow, not just mine, but another ...

... the simpsons...and not like 1 or two of em... im talking 10, 20, 30, **** sometimes 100s maybe... not only that, but tons of girls were running around in ghetto mama hoochie shorts and their pamela anderson bikini tops, which is completely offensive to the laos culture. anyhow... after one day of tubing with a group of friends, matt and i wanted to avoid any association with this type of traveler (who always manage to snatch up the most scenic spots- damn em), we ...