Vang Vieng

(Be sure to read our Lao Trek and... ELEPHANTS post below)

Hey everyone! 

Well it’s 8:24am here and Mark and I were just woken up by the oh so lovely sounds of the local roosters.  What a treat to have a 5am, 6am, 7am wake up call each and every morning (mild eye roll).  The day is upon us where we are leaving Vang Vieng to take a 24 hour bus to the south of Laos, to the 4000 Islands.  Now when told the bus would take 24 hours they quoted us as leaving at 1:30pm and arriving at 10:30 am….so you do the math…sometime tomorrow we’ll be right along the Cambodian border.  

Do the math: Departure Time, Arrival Time, Duration... Huh?

After the 4000 Islands we’ll make our way into Cambodia where we will spend the last 6 or so days we have left before catching our flight from Phenom Phen to Kuala Lumpur.  At that time the mad dash to find an apartment will commence!  We arrive back to KL on December 18^th, have a hotel room (arranged by the school) for 2 weeks while looking for a place to live.  Mark and I booked a 4 day Christmas getaway a week or so ago to Cherating, a small town on the East coast of Malaysia.  Apparently during monsoon season you don’t really want to stay on the East coast of Malaysia as it is guaranteed to rain a lot, but Cherating is a surf town, one that loves monsoon season as the swell draws people from all over the world.  So Mark will get to partake in his second surf experience, and why not make it on Christmas day? ;)  Mark and I are hoping that we can find a place to live in the 6 days before the vacation so that we can really kick back and relax over the Christmas getaway.  Here’s hoping! 

Anyways, this post is meant to be about VANG VIENG, so let me backtrack a little bit to detail a bit of the last few days.  So we booked a VIP bus from Luang Prabang to make the 6 or so hour journey to the ever loved Vang Vieng.  We had the option of booking a mini-van, which was slightly cheaper, but upon reading reviews I knew this was not the option for us.  I read about the insane roads, the speed at which the mini-vans drive, the number of people they squish in (up to 14 ppl), and the car sickness that is merely unavoidable.  So after bargaining for a deal we opted for the VIP bus, costing a little bit more, but included a snack, water and lunch ( I could just imaaaaagine what they were going to feed us roadside).  So we were sorted so now we just had to do a bit of research on Van Vieng before arriving.  This little town is somewhere in the middle between Luang Prabang, and the capital city Vientiane.  

We heard so much about this place throughout our travels in Laos, so we decided to make it a stopping point.  The number 1 activity to do here in the town in to rent an old tractor trailer tire tube, and float down a nearby river.  In the past there were bars lining the river where people could get drinks, drugs, just about anything that they wanted.  BUT after nearly a tourist DEATH a month, totaling somewhere around 28, and hundreds of serious injuries the river bars/drug stops were officially shut down as of August 2012.  Mark and I were relieved by the news that they had been shut, as all that we really wanted to experience was a chill day on the water, floating around, with 1 or 2 cold beverages, but nothing the size of a beach pail (which they serve mixed drinks in here).  Other activities in the area are things like kayaking, caving, rock climbing, etc.  So here we go:

THE DRIVE.  We got on the VIP bus, which didn’t seem too VIP as it was from about 1980, but the air conditioning worked (at the beginning), so that was a good start.  Upon leaving I blew up my inflatable neck rest, and pulled out my eye shade to catch a little shut eye.  This was the best choice I could have made.  

THE ROADS, more like TRAILS, WERE HORRENDOUS.  When I woke from my little nap I lifted my eye shade and Mark looked at me and said, “put that back on.”  Now does Mark know me or what? After a sneaking glance I then followed his advice and sat there wide awake with the eye shade on.  After some ‘disturbance’ on the bus I lifted the shade to be nosy and find out what was going on. 

Two seats over the overhead air conditioning system started leaking onto the passengers below.  A slow consistent drip turned into a steady stream of water pouring down on them.  Two Dutch passengers sat with plastic bags to catch the water for quite some time, until it became too much.  They spoke with the driver and had him attempt to turn of the A/C in the back left of the bus.  Now we were sitting at the right back side of the bus (2 seats from the leaking roof), and directly above the OTHER A/C.  I was sure that with the added work the lone A/C would have to do; that we’d be the next one to be leaked on (sounds gross doesn’t it), but I am happy to say that we got through the trip drip free.  The drive was frightening, the roads were pot hole ridden, and our sandwiches made the previous night had been attacked by ants, leaving them inedible.  Lovvvvvvvvely.  Mark read away throughout the trip, I sat for the majority with my eyes covered, and as the time was upon us when we were to arrive we started wondering when we actually might get in.  It was 3:30pm, and still we were not at our destination, and we still hadn’t had our free lunch.  At that point the bus pulled over and we unloaded to have a rather late lunch of noodle soup.  Not the worst soup in the world, just don’t love the fish balls that they put in everything.  So finally about an hour after lunch we arrived to Vang Vieng.  We hopped into a tuk-tuk for the main part of town. 

THE ACCOMODATION. We so conveniently got dropped off at a rather expensive hotel, I’m sure the driver gets a commission from travelers who pay the high price, so we walked on a few hundred meters and found a nice little place for over half price.  The place we are staying in costs about $5.50 a night, and is actually decent.  There are two twin beds again, one for the first night, the other for the second, a balcony, and a PRIVATE bathroom.  The last few places we’d stayed in had a shared bathroom, shower….not my preference of choice let’s just say.  So we were in luxury comparably. 

THE TOWN.  A few months ago this place would have been a little Cancun.  There are bars everywhere, music blaring; the perfect setting for party goers.  Now since the closure of the riverside bars, ziplining, and rock jumps along the tubing river many people don’t venture here as they assume the tubing is closed all together.  There are awesome little places to eat and drink everywhere, all with raised bed like sitting areas around a table a foot off the ground.  The one strange thing, which we read in our guidebooks, and on reviews online, is that Family Guy and Friends is on at most bars, blaring loudly and on a continuous loop.  Apparently for those that indulge in a Happy Pizza, or a Happy Shake it’s the perfect combination.  Don’t know why, but it seems to be the ‘thing.’  Oh, you may be wondering what I mean by happy pizza and shake….well this little town is pretty known for the endless drug possibilities.  In the past they advertised it quite blatantly, but now not so much.  You can have any combination, a cocktail of drugs to top your pizza or mix in your shake.  We did not partake in this option, but can’t say we weren’t offered.  We went for a nice dinner, and a few drinks and upon paying the man said to Mark “Thank you, and I can get you whateeeeeeever you’d like.”  Anyways, moving on, the landscape is absolutely stunning; mountains surround the area, and are different hues of blue as the distance between them varies.  The river is not the brown of the Mekong, which was comforting knowing that we’d be swimming in there (and the stories of leeches in the other were rather nasty).  So on to the tubing for us. 

THE TUBING.  We rented our inner tubes (and as you can see from the condition of them, that they have been used many a time before), took a tuk-tuk several km’s upstream, and hopped in the water for a slow ride down the river.  Again the scenery was fantastic; mountains surrounding, blue water/rapids and sun.  We drifted slowly at times, and as we came up to the rapids we moved at a much quicker pace.  We shared a cold beverage, and enjoyed the tranquility of the river. Along the way, we wondered how the heck a tourist could die here once a month. There was talk of cliff jumping (which killed some tourists), but we never saw a cliff or even a small ledge in which we would desire to jump off of. Survival of the fittest, I guess. 

It took just under 2 hours to get from the starting point to the end point (where we were greeted by kids swimming in the water: they’d latch onto your tube and steer you into the end spot….and of course at the end asked for a tip).  We both thoroughly enjoyed the ride and would highly recommend it. 

So at this point Mark is showered, we’ve had breakfast and we’re about ready to start the day.  Just a few hours left to walk around before the (I’m sure) interesting journey ahead.  Eye shade ready! J