vang vieng

A straightforward bus ride on a Laos local bus saw me arrive in Vang Vieng on Monday lunchtime. It was raining very hard when I left Vientiane at 8.30am, but by the time I reached Vang Vieng around 12pm all rain had stopped.

I had a bit of a rest on Monday afternoon, and didn't do much more than loaf around the local tourist bars, keeping an eye out for Claudia and Jun (didn't bump into them), and having a little preliminary look around the area. Accommodation here ranks among the cheapest I've had, and is of a good standard. My room with ensuite and fan, at the Ngeunpanith Guesthouse, is costing me two dollars a night, and the average meal here in a restaurant is between one and two dollars.

Vang Vieng is a place of outstanding natural beauty, and - you can tell as soon as you arrive - a very well known backpacker haunt. It's a small town composed mainly of tourist bars, hotels, shops, and internet cafes, surrounded by large limestone cliffs which dominate and tower over the town from all sides. Opium is freely available in Vang Vieng, and is even listed on restaurant menus, after drinks, as is cannabis and magic mushrooms, but the town is most famous as being the mecca for Laos river 'tubing.'

On Tuesday I hired a bicycle and cycled for about 20 kilometres around the town, and out into the countryside, through several villages and farms. On my way I picked up two tiny girls who were walking back from school, and gave them a lift on the back of my bike to their home. They didn't speak English, of course, and my four words of Laos didn't go very far, so I just kept cycling, occasionally hearing the two of them giggling behind me, until the older of the two tapped me on the back, and gestured that we had reached their home. After dropping them off, I carried on and cycled to the Poukham Cave, and then I cycled back into town.

Wednesday: I went kayaking with some others along the Namsong River, which included riding some tame rapids. We stopped on the way at the Elephant Cave and the Water Cave, and then carried on to a spot along the river where a local entrepreneur has constructed a riverside bar, and a ten metre platform from which you can hurl yourself into the river. I jumped four times, and loved it.

Same day, I also bumped into some old friends from Hoi An in Vietnam: Jason and Liz. We went out for a few jugs of beer in the evening, and had a really good time catching up on since we last met. They're both interesting and great fun to talk to, and have plenty of stories - over the past ten months they've been through Canada (which is where Liz is from), Africa, India, China, and Southeast Asia. Last stop is Australia (which is where Jason is from). They've gone to Phonsavan today, but we've agreed to meet up again for a few more beers in Luang Prabang (my next stop) on Saturday or Sunday.

On Thursday (today) I went 'tubing' down the Namsong River. Tubing is a Laos phenomenon. It involves inserting yourself in an enormous tractor inner tube and then floating down the river. It's great fun. A German couple accompanied me halfway, until I pulled in at the river bar to drink a few beers and stare at the cliffs. I floated the final stretch of river on my own, save for the odd fisherman or frolicking kid by the waterside.