Viang Vieng, what a wonderful place!
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2006
1
46
75
Trip End
May 17, 2007
Viang Vieng,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Thursday, February 15, 2007
We got here by bus, which took about 6 hours from Luang Prabang. it was a long trip, but the mountain scenery was stunning. The road we took is where a number of hijackings took place a few years back, but as it happens I had a guy with an AK47 sat right behind me. As you do!! It turns out this was goung to become a familiar sight in Viang Vieng. For reasons unknown to anyone there was a large number of plain clothed military in Viang Vieng when we first got here. They kept shutting the bars at 10.30 and telling me to go to sleep. They obviously didn't wan't us on the streets!
The guesthouse I've been saying at (Kemsong) is quality. For $5 a night, I have my own en-suite double bedroom to myself, whic faces onto the river, limestone peaks, and an awesome sunset in the evening. Not too shabby! As it happens, I've not spent much time there. I've been hanging out with the 2 Dutch guys and Nico all the time. In the day we either chill out in the bars where you lye down with loads of cushions and watch films, Friends, Simpsons, etc... or by the river in hammocks, or play Boules, or.... and this is the best bit....we go TUBING!
Tubing is basically getting in a bit rubber ring and drifting down the river. however, on the way there are loads of bars, with rope swings into the river, or Boules pitches or volleyball courts or just chilling areas. We've been tubing twice and it is so much fun. The first time we went we took it a bit easy on the drink, but still ended up quite drunk as they give you free Lao Lao (Laos whiskey) in the bars. By the end, we stopped off at a little shack with no-one there except the two women and their 3 adorable kids that were running the place. After bartering down the price of some beers we set about making them some money, beckoning people in with shouts of "Beer Lao, Beer Lao". By the time we left, there were 15 people in this small shack. We felt pretty pleased that we helped make some good money for these people as they didn't have a big bar, or music, or rope swing...
Gijs, Keis and me on the buckets
they were just some l;ocals trying to make a little bit extra for the family. I also met Kais, aka The Flying Dutchman, that day, now famed for his doubl;e spins off the rope swings! That first day we got back and went to Smile Bar on the island. There we drunk a few Whiskey buckets and got a bit merry. So merry that nico nearly fell off the bamboo bridge! I actually think I got drunk twice in one day. It was one of my best days of travelling so far.The 2nd time was pretty mad, starting out earlier than the 1st time and not finishing until it was pitch black! Again, we had a great laugh, got pretty drunk and I got to use a microphone to call people into another bar. . This bar had a rope swing but thee wasn't much room for error as there were quite a few rocks around! I also met another Rolls-Royce person who worked in the Coventry area there. Random. That evening we had a little taster of the "happy shakes" that you can get here, the "happy" referring to the magic mushrooms in the shakes. I didn't have much, but it was enough to make me see a few crazy things when I closed my eyes! I won't be doing them again, but you have to try these things once...
Another day we hired some 100cc mopeds, even though I don't have a licence. Not a problem here! The dutch guys taught me the basics and after that I was fine.... with the early exception of hitting a pothole at about 60kpm. After that I was in full control, and I was surprised how easy it was. We did a bit of driving around the mountains, then made a big mistake... we went to the caves! Here, we saw a couple of caves, and went for a walk inside one. We were about 1km in, with hardly any light and I slipped on a rock into some deep water. Unfortunately for me I had my bag with me, and this little fall ended up breaking my phone, camera and MP3 player. Good work! Not only that, I also sliced the whole of the bottom of my left big toe off, leaving me walking aroung like a retard because I can't put pressure on it. In other words, if anyone goes to Viang Vieng, DON'T go caving. The caves were crap anyway!
I've had a lot of fun here, and chilled out a lot too... its been a week now! We leave tomorrow for Vientiane, which isn't meant to be great but we'll stay there a few days before flying on the 19th to Hanoi in Vietnam. The Dutch boys are now going to come too. Should be cool. Can't wait!!
