Vang Vieng

It was with massive expectations that we departed Luang Prabang en route to Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is famous for it's river, or more specifically the tubing that takes place on the river.


After a 6 hour minivan ride over some serious hills and with our driver doing his absolute best to hit every pot hole on the way (we were lifted clear off our seats several times) we arrived in Vang Vieng town. We were disappointed.

The town is pretty much one road littered with guest houses and restaurants/bars. We wandered the streets trying to find where all the action was before picking a guest house. Later that evening we went out exploring and our spirits soared as we found that everyone goes down by the river to a bar called "Bucket Bar" - where as the name suggests their specialty is small plastic buckets filled with a combination of Laos Whiskey, soft drink and red bull - a potentially disastrous combination.

Up early the next morning we set out to go tubing. Tubing means you hop on a tuk tuk which takes you up river and drops you off with an inner truck tube. You then float down the river - this sounds relaxing but not exactly fun - so it's a good thing that every 50metres there's a different bar setup where they pull you in for a drink.


Having a drink and tubing sounds good but it gets better. Every bar has at least one adrenalin based activity - rope swings, flying foxes, trapezes, mud pits or water slides. As you can probably imagine a river full of young people drinking in the sun and doing some extreme activities was a lot of fun. You have to be back before 6pm if you want your deposit back so we took it pretty easy and got back just in time.

All in all we stayed for 5 nights and really enjoyed the place. The town is one dimensional and we were glad when it came time to move on. We will put photos up the next time we're on the computers.


Highlights
- Watching other people get slammed on the high swings - belly flops galore! For example two aussie boys who were not content with the degree of difficulty of the swings etc so they did everything blind folded.
- Mud wrestling, very dirty but very fun. In the mud throwing fights there is power in numbers so pick one person and get everyone else to pelt them.
- Going to a Laos disco (nightclub) with some local Laos. Instantly we were transformed into C grade celebrities like actors off of Shortland Street
- New Zealand sport. The AB's winning as expected and the Kiwis with their unexpected World Cup victory. The Australian that told us instantly regretted it.

Random Fact: Several of the cafe's in Vang Vieng have TV's constantly playing back to back episodes of Friends. Good for 30 minutes or so when you're feeling the effects of tubing but some people sit in there all day - not exactly our kind of traveling.

Lessons Learned
- The distance from the last bar on the river to the tubing depot is truly massive - over an hour. Leave the last bar well before 5pm.
- Some of the bars have code words (e.g. number 420) which they advertise over the speaker early in the evening. If the code word is read aloud later in the evening, i.e. when the bar is breaking the curfew, it means the police have arrived.
- We both have fickle NZ accents. Too much time with others and our accents start to noticabley change - gross.

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is a small city in the North of Laos. It has a population of roughly 25,000 but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in beauty.

The French ruled the area that is now Laos earlier this century and as a result they have left behind tell tale signs such as: Good coffee, baked goods, French architecture and an abundance of French speaking tourists.

The coffee and baguettes are really tasty as the photo below indicates.

On our first full day in the town we thought we'd have a good look around. Hiring bicycles was an economical, and stylish option. Although they do only have one speed so you need some momentum before taking on any sort of hill.

We rode unbelievably far. I'm not sure what we were thinking but at the end of it we were both buggered and in need of a rest and a soft cushion. One speed bikes in the sweltering heat really take it out of you.

Arguably the best thing about Luang Prabang is the waterfall park (Kouang Si) which is located about 30 minutes from the town. The park is simply amazing and the largest waterfall is spectacular.


There is a very steep track to the right hand side of the waterfall. We both climbed it and walked around up above the waterfall - a safe distance from the edge. With a bit of climbing and swimming we found some good views and other mini waterfalls which aren't visible from the bottom.


After looking at the largest waterfall it was time for a swim in one of the swimming areas. Very relaxing and surprisingly warm as you can see from the photo of Clint below.

Later that day a group of us went and visited a temple on a hill in the centre of the town. The view was really great and it coincided with the sunsetting - it was romantic enough to draw plenty of "ough's" and "argh's" from the couples that decided to join us.


Highlights:

- The French influence. Fine dining and impressive architecture that is slowly deteriorating.
- Curfew loophole. All the bars have to close at midnight so everyone goes bowling (ten pin). The place somehow has an exemption and stays open until 3am.
- The Laos attitude - laid back and carefree. No one pesters you to buy their wares!
- The "Krispy" biscuit flavoured treats that we found at a market. Presumably made from rice they were piping hot and for 5 at 5000kip ($1 NZD) they were fantastic - a reward is on offer for anyone who know's the recipe.

Random Fact:

-A popular rumour on the traveller grapevine is that to date a Laos person a foreigner must first acquire a license to do so. Fact or fiction? We like to think fact.

Lessons Learned:
- To rapidly check out a small town you can't beat a bicycle for some cheap fun.
- If you elect to climb the hill to watch the sunset in Luang Prabang ensure that you wear long pants and long sleeves. As the sun sets the dinghy mosquito's change guard with the malaria mosquito's and neither is afraid of insect repellant with deet as an ingredient so a feeding frenzy ensues.

Great escape down the Mekong

After 29 days in Thailand our visa's were due to expire. With our backs to the wall we went to the Chiang Mai bus station and got tickets for a 6am departure to Chiang Khong.

The bus ride was good, we were the only tourists and it was quite empty so we could stretch out down the back and sleep.

Chiang Khong is a small border town set on the Mekong river. We went through customs (a guy in a small wooden office) and caught a boat across the river into Laos . It was pretty cool being able to look across the river at a different country.

We stayed the night in Huay Xai before catching the slow boat down the Mekong. The slow boat (as the name suggests) is a big long boat full of tourists which goes slowly down the river. The first day we were quite cramped and the benches are ridiculously small - the width was the length of my forearm (elbow to wrist).

We docked into a small town at dusk where we were promptly assaulted by the locals trying to get us to stay at their guest house and eat at their restaurants. We blasted through the scavengers and found some comfortable lodgings before going in search of some dinner.

Luckily we managed to find the place with the worst service in the entire town. Eight of us ordered - it took 90 minutes before the first person was served and three of the orders were incorrect - none of this mattered as the host said we could drink his home made rice whiskey for free - rice whiskey for the uninitiated tastes like a combination of mouth wash and petrol and we were amazed that it didn't burn when we tried to set a small amount on fire.

The next day we were back on the boat and after 7 hours we arrived at Luang Prabang. Laos used to be a french colony so there are baguettes and coffee everywhere which is a bit of a laugh. The town also seems to be a meka for the more mature tourists (40-60).

Random Fact: In Laos cars drive on the right hand side of the road (presumably because of the French).

Highlights
- Being a millionaire for the first time. A million kip (the Laos local currency) is the equivalent of $200 NZD
- Cruising on the Meekong sipping a cold whiskey and coke
- Bagettes and coffee. The body has been craving gluten and caffeine.
- The Polish group. Six Pols on tour (25-40sh in age) who had their own recipe for a good time - 90% Polish Vodka early in the morning, along with cameras about the same size as our bags. Hands down, they were the six happiest people on the boat.

Lessons Learned
- Laos ATM's are unrealiable. There are three in this town, two of which don't work, the other is a good distance out of town.
- Town shuts early. The bars close at 11pm at which time everyone goes bowling (ten pin). The alley is exempt from the curfew which means the drinks flow freely until 3am, so we are told...