Tubing in the Vang vieng… P.s. Bye Sarah hello Toby.

We have been in Laos for four days now and after our initial day of R&R we woke up with a view to get on it good and hard, as I mentioned before Vang vieng is very famous amongst a certain type of traveller… The piss head. The beautiful scenery hides one of the most infamous stretches of bars in all of South-east Asia a little too well… On the river – the only access is to get a big rubber tube and float from bar to bar. Gallons of cheap whiskey + river x tube = In the tubing Vang vieng…

Sarah, Georgie and I were up pretty early and after my usual morning coffee transplant we went off in search of this mystical place, it’s strange because as a traveller who has never been here we were lead to believe that this sleepy town was all about the tubing but as we found out the Laos “laidback-ness” hid it quite well. We strolled about the town for a while looking for tubes and transport but it took us close to an hour before we found the place.

No more than five miles up the road our tuk tuk jammed full of potential piss heads turned off the main road and took us down a dusty track towards the looming hills and the river, as we approached the distinctive sound of thumping bass broke the peace and all I could think about was how desperately I needed a beer Laos (I’m  not alcoholic it’s just that there is so much advertising for the stuff I was overpowered).

A string of bamboo and wooden bars dot the river on both sides all armed with big speakers piping out lively music, we arrived at the first and got stuck into cheap booze and cheap conversation with the other floaters. It was no later than 1pm but the party mood was heavy in the air, we chatted and drank watching from the bar as people climbed a nearby tree/ladder and flung themselves out on a huge trapeze swing… Looked so fun and I was certain after a few more buckets of whiskey that would be THE BEST IDEA IN THE WORLD.

By the time people started to flop onto their tubes and start floating towards the next bar we were well and truly hammered but it only served to make us want it even more, I splashed straight out of my tube and took a dunking while the girls elegantly floated off, Sarah somehow managed to get marooned but in the end with much laughter and soaking my money and ciggs we clambered up the rocks to bar two…

At bar two they had a zip line which looked infinitely less deadly than the swing so Georgie stepped up and took flight… You will have to wait for the video’s to go up to see it in all it’s glory!

The whole day continued like that and each bar offered something a little different, some had mud pits, some had swings and zip lines and some had bottles of paint they lashed you with as you arrive… They all had free whiskey shots for new comers.

We met some really cool English people who work at the bars and partied with them until the sunset when we decided to head off while we could still see so not to float all the way to Cambodia.

Covered head to toe in paint and mud we staggered off our tuk tuk and back to our guesthouse, got some dinner and were in bed by 11pm – starting so early so hard meant we couldn’t go on anymore… Sarah was sick which is normally a good gauge that mucho mucho fun was had by all…

Monday went exactly the same as Sunday… Wake up feeling rubbish, copious amounts off coffee, breakfast then off to the river to start again… It really is something you will have to see – there is no point in me trying to better describe it because to be honest I don’t fully remember it but Monday was zip wire day we were all over the zip wires all day and apart from one dodgy landing by me (Ouch!) it was top fun!!! I managed to forget to let go at the end and was somersaulted a good few metres into the air before smashing into the water head first… A LOT funner than it sounds.

So thats Laos so far, we love the sleepy little town of Vang vieng and it’s dirty little river secret (the well hidden river bars and throngs of pissheads) and we have enjoyed them to the full! Yesterday Sarah had to leave to go back to Bangkok sadly but to be honest we were glad of a day off and when Toby arrived an hour or so later thank god he wasn’t up for it… But today is another story!!! See you on the river.