Vang Vieng

Trip Start Jan 16, 2008
1
32
117
Trip End Jul 28, 2008


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow
Where I stayed
Maylyn Guest House

Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep  ,
Thursday, March 20, 2008

What a crazy place? One of the South-East Asian 'to do' places which people had been raving about since the start of our trip, we were excited to visit Vang Vieng. Walking around the town, it appears dead, and it seems hard to believe that there are heaps and heaps of travellers here. We turned a corner onto the main road and found everyone. The place was littered with 'TV bars' rolling Friends on repeat. Watching Friends with my lovely little sister is one of my favorite hobbies, but perhaps not something I needed to do in Laos.

The next day was spent 'tubing' which involves sitting in a tractor inner tube and floating down the river. The 3.5km route is littered with bars all offering to pull you in and sell you Beer Lao and food. The bars are all competing for the travellers custom in the most unconventional way we've seen yet. Each one had a Tarzan style rope swing flinging people out into the middle of the river. At the sight of a potential customer, the bar man leaps, climbs up a tree and unceremoniously throws himself into the river. Remembering Lonely Planet's ominous passage "Laos has no facilities for medical emergencies, no ambulances, and the worst clinics in South-East Asia" I decided to decline. Rob decided it would be "well funny" and went for it. See the videos!

I left Vang Vieng relieved to still have my boyfriend in one piece and covered in crazy bruises and cuts from spending the day sat inside a tractor wheel.
Slideshow

Use this image in your site

Copy and paste this html: