vang vieng

We arrived in Vang Vieng in the early afternoon. We had to walk through what I thought was a big car park to get to our hotel, but it was actually the air strip! A few of us hired bicycles and rode 7km out to Blue Lagoon swimming hole. Our bikes were definately not designed to ride on bumpy dirt roads! At one point I passed a group of young school kids, and before I knew it one of the little boys had jumped on my bike on the back seat! As he was getting a free ride, the rest of them ran along side, hanging on to him. They all took turns, getting off when we passed their houses! Was hilarious, but very hard work up the hills. The pool was really cool & refreshing, just what I needed. We couldn't stay too long, as it was getting late & I wasn't too keen to ride back in the dark. It was a very beautiful sunset, with the huge cliffs in the distance. At dinner that night, after waiting over an hour, I asked whether my meal had been started yet, and all I got was a blank look- they had totally forgot my order! Was fine though, because I had a milo, chocolate & banana pancake from a street stall instead! We headed out for some drinks, but there is a curfew at midnight, and if you are caught out afterwards the police can fine you hundreds of dollars. We were told about one place that stays open by paying off the cops, so we checked it out. It was quite seedy, and also part brothel, so I didn't stay very long! The next day half the group went kayaking, whilst the others (including me) went tubing down the river. It doesn't sound like much, floating along with the current in a huge tyre inner tube, but it was the best day of my whole trip! Firstly we walked through a small village to get to a swimming hole, and we relaxed there for a while. We then went on our tubes into a kilometre-long cave. We were decked out in head lamps with huge battery packs around our necks, that were thankfully waterproof, although looking at how ancient they were I am not sure how. The entrance to the cave was only just big enough for the tube, so I had to duck very low. It was really cool inside, it opened up a little bit, but it was still slightly claustrophobic. We got off our tubes at one point and had a walk around to explore, and then we floated back down to the entrance. Lunch was delicious, including a little taste of dog (it was actually good!). Then the real tubing began. For the rest of the day, we bobbed along with the current down the river, while soaking up the sun. There were a few mini rapids, but mostly it was a very relaxing pace. There are bars scattered alongside the river, so we stopped at 2. Because its quite difficult to control where you are going against the current, the people at the bars throw ropes at you to pull you in, but I struggled a bit! The first bar had everything- music, volleyball, boules, drinks, and best of all, a trapeze jump swing, 12m above the river! It took me half an hour to work up the courage to have a go on the swing, but I was so glad I did it- so much fun! (scary though) After meandering further downstream, slightly tipsy, we stopped at the Last Bar. It had another swing (not as high), but we just sat back and enjoyed the scenery... and a drink or 2. As we left the bar, the day was getting on, and it was a bit chilly sitting in the water when the sun was behind the cliffs. I had such an amazing day, its very hard to explain why it was so good! The next morning I was very sad to be leaving Vang Vieng, I would have loved to stay longer. We boarded the public bus again for about 8 hrs of travel.