Vang Vieng and the tubing...
Trip Start
Jun 26, 2008
1
20
67
Trip End
Ongoing
Vang Vieng,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Friday, August 1, 2008
Day2: I woke early intent on doing something with the day rather than sitting around which it is so easy to do. I managed to get to a tour operator just before 9am and get us booked on a kayaking/cave/tubing/jumping tour. We got the tuktuk 20km up the Nam Song river to the start of the kayaking. Kim and i managed to get individual kayaks which are much more fun than the doubles. We went down to the river and couldn't help noticing that it was flowing fast and i mean really fast. Without paddling you were doing over 10kph and easily around 15-20kph whilst paddling hard. It made negotiating the river weeds and rapids tricky but loads of fun. The scenery here is spectaular, easily one of the most beautiful and serene places i have ever been, i would say even better than Halong Bay. Vast limestone cliffs rise vertically out of the water covered in dense jungle in complete peace and quiet. After around 15 mins we went to the opposite shore and headed to the caves. With such rainfall in the past few days it was very muddy getting to the caves and on arrival the first cave really wasn't that impressive.The second cave was however and went right through the rocks, apparently for up to three days worth of trekking in length. Also the fact that thousands of Laos people lived in these caves to avoid the bombing during the wars of the late 20th century.
Back to the river via slippery paddy fields (getting good at walking around in bare feet) for lunch. Here we met an english group who tried to visit the caves by themselves only to be told they would have to pay $10 each to cross back across the river - a total rip off. We later saw them in town after they had trekked to the nearest bridge, they were not happy! Back on the river, serene beauty of the countryisde and some pretty quick rapids was awesome for around a hour. Suddenly faint music (hard house) could be heard which seemed at odds with the surroundings. Round a bend in the river was the first of five 'tubing' bars. Hard house music thumped from massive speakers and 50 drunk/stoned/tripping westerners sat by the river watching people bungee swing into the river before being pulled out of the current by a guy with a rubber ring on a rope. We sailed past avoiding the flying bodies and pulled up at the second and largest bar on this stretch of river. Hundreds of people having one massive party mainly covered in mud. This bar had both the bungee and a zip line which ended with a stop, throwing people like rag dolls into the fast flowing river. We had one drink and Kim was first to try the zip line letting go just before the bump stop and hitting the water feet first. I then went up and was determined to hang on past the stop. The platform is around 50ft above the water with the release being about 20ft above. I went and really don't remember hitting the stop, i span 270o as my hand was wrenched from the zip line bar and hit the water on my side - hard. I surfaced and grabbed the rubber ring and was hauled in but God it hurt, from my shoulder to my knees all the way down my left side. I was subsequently bruised for the following 5 days! From here we kayaked down river hitting bigger rapids until we landed at the final stop on the south side of town. Althogether the best organised tour yet. We headed back and got showered and changed before going out for dinner, which consisted of frech bread pizza and whiskey buckets! Lao whiskey and their version of redbull certainly has a strange effect and six buckets later watching friends were were throughly sozzled and headed back to sleep it off, determined to do the tubing the following day - the reason most people come here.
Day 3: Up late with a mild hangover and off to the tubing. Not really knowing what to do we wandered outside and spoke to the first people to walk past which were two girls from Canada, both called Jen. (same same, but different). They had seen the tubing in a travel magazine six months before and headed to Laos specifically for this. We went to the river and queued up with fifty already drunk (11am) westerners for the tube and to get on the tuktuk to the start point. This is when we met Ben and Chris two of the the gayest ozzie guys you could ever want to meet and drunk, really drunk. Ben has already drunk a bottle of Lao whiskey and has three more in a dry bag for the trip. Chris has already earned himself a reputation by dancing on a podium in front of everyone the previous day. We get a tuktuk to the start which is an organic farm serving mulberry mohitos in plastic bags and get precariously on our tubes and into the river - which is freezing due to the high flow rate.Onto the first bar, we are pulled from the river by a Lao guy with a long bamboo pole. We sit in the sun with the two Jens and the ozzy boys drinking Beerlao and watching people swing painfully into the river. Kim goes up with Jen no1 and swings in. I go up with Jen no2 who is petrified of heights and water having nearly drowned three times as a kid. The start platform is easily 60ft up in a tree and genuinely nervous getting up to the front. Kim having already been was shaking when she got back! Jen goes ahead of me and prompty lets go hitting the water hard from around 30ft and gets out quite shaken. I drop with the intention of letting go at the upswing and dropping from the highest point but completely bottle it as i fly through the air, dropping on the second swing from around 30ft. A major rush! A couple more beers to calm the nerves and then back in the tubes to the biggest bar on the riover the one we had been to the day before. Ben and Chris had already left and were covered head to foot in mud by the time we arrived drinking whiskey straight from the bottle - Ben had already been sick in the river once (1pm). We hungout drinking and partying with loud western music and the girls heading to the zip wire and bungee once again. Kim managing to hook her legs over the bungee swing before htting the water head first (video to follow). Whiskey buckets were mixed with more beers and eventually we headed to the later bars much of the rest of the day being a little blurred.We skipped through the next few bars fairly quickly as it was getting late and we really needed to be back before dark as it was pitch black. We didn't make it and the last stretch of river (30min) was done in complete darkness. I managed to lose Kim and she did the last bit by herself. I managed to get hooked onto a group of British people and drifted down with them. Almost losing our way when the river split we got to the proper landing area (apparently many people didn't and had to crawl up the banks further down). We had dinner and Kim decided she had had enough. I was up for going out with the others as arranged earlier and put her to bed before setting out. I met Ben at the bucket bar and ordered drinks and waited for the other to show up. Ben was chatting with this german gay couple and being overtly interested in one of them which ended up later on with him going back with the couple and eventually being beaten up for coming onto one or both of them. I hung out with Chris and the two Jens until the girls were drunk and being 'entertained' by a couple of Irish guys. Chirs and a bunch of other set off for another bar as Bucket Bar shut at midnight. Chris leading the way with around fifty people behind him, many of them chanting 'chris is gay, chris is gay'. We ended up at another bar in town but nothing much was happening so i called it a night and headed home.
Day 4: Following day was a rest and hangover day, as i wasn't doing tubing all day again and then getting on a bus for 7h with a hangover. We sat and watched 'Friends' for 3h in the morning with full english breakfast and icecream and coffee and then decided we ought to do something with the day and booked a ride on an elephant! We headed out of town by tuktuk and got to the elephants. First time i had been up close to elephants not in a zoo. The guys strapped the seat to the elephant whilst climbing all over it which it didn't seem to mind at all. Raising its leg so they could use it as a step to climb onto its head. We got on, photos taken, and headed off. How kings etc used to use these in battle and still look regal i have no idea. It is not a comfy ride. But it was so strange to be on top of an animal this big with is shouder blades moving under its spiky grey skin. We went through a local village with stares an shouts from the local children we did feel a little like celebrities. The elephant would occasionally stop to drink spraying us with water in the process. On the way back the guide got off and we took it in turns to sit on the elephants neck and head steering (sort of) in the process - a very strange experience. Villagers putting out whole banana tree branches to feed the elephant on the way round.
When we got back we went back to the same bar and ordered dinner, (laap - my new favourite with sticky rice) and more 'friends', booked the bus ticket for the following day and headed to bed.
