Vang Vieng and Vientiane

Some research I did before arriving here made me realise that Vang Vieng is quite well known, even if it is for the wrong reasons.  It is a big backpacker hangout, in particular for its tubing and bars along the river.   I then remembered about Australians who had died while tubing the river.  In fact in 2011 twenty seven backpackers drowned here, and the next year was nearly as bad.  But in late 2012 the government stepped in and removed most of the bars and dangerous ziplines along the river and there is now some regulation to the tubing.  The most dangerous time is the wet season and as this is the dry, the river is quite low.

River action at sunset

The night before we had all worked out what we wanted to do for our free day.  Three quarters of us had agreed on a tuk tuk to Blue Lagoon.  We woke up with time to spare and headed out for breakfast.  But wait, what was this on the road, and maybe the sound I had heard in the room wasn't the airconditioning runoff.  Yes, it was rain!  We hadn't seen any possibility off it since arriving three weeks ago, and I had even left the rain coats and umbrella in the cases at Bangkok.  But it was certainly rain, and some thunder thrown in to boot.

Breakfast was a recommended restaurant just around the corner from the hotel.  When we arrived there was only one other table being served.  We only ordered fruit juice and pancakes, but it was nearly an hour later before we got them.  and it seemed that a lot of locals called in for breakfast and their orders went to the top of the queue.  At least we had plenty of time.  Maybe not a good choice for the next morning's early start.

 The tuk tuk to Blue Lagoon was supposed to leave at nine, and another couple who had turned up after us and joined our table were already discussing the benefits of going out there.  Our guide and most of the others turned up, with the decision already made that it wasn't worth going out there.  Apparently after rain the Blue Lagoon becomes decidedly yellow.

We headed back to our room where I attempted to update my blog which was already three days out.  We have had a number of wifi problems where it either didn't work or was so slow it barely worked.  When my frustration level became too high, and the rain and thunder had stopped, we decided it was time to get out and explore.  We headed back into the main area, finding a bridge we could cross (at no charge, compared to the one we had found the night before).  We walked through the accommodation huts and then the farming land on the other side, towards one of the limestone karst hills.  There is a cave there, but in the end we decided to head back as the track was now quite muddy.  We then walked further along the river, seeing the many bars and backpacker accommodation available.  After a stop back at our hotel, we then headed out again, finding a great lunch deal of burgers, fries and fruit shake.  Sometimes you need a change from the Asian food.

View from a bamboo bridge.  Day beds and huts on the water for the backpackers

Beautiful scenery

After lunch we went back to the hotel where I again tried to update the blog with the spasmodic internet.  I was quite disappointed that we hadn't gone to Blue Lagoon, or in fact had seen a lot of the area.  So some research mentioned long tail boats on the river.  We headed back to the place we had found the first night as I thought I remembered boats parked there.  While we were having a look at the river, a small yellow bus decided to back up along the stone way.  We had to move out of its way, and couldn't understand what it was trying to achieve.  Jim thought the driver was perhaps looking to wash the bus in the river.  Well, if he had trouble on the loose rock surface, that was nothing to when he backed the bus into the water.  Yep, it wouldn't come out again.  Despite his many attempts it just got deeper.

Not a good place to wash a bus

Meanwhile I had found the office for the long tail boats and discovered that is was quite cheap, going six kilometres up the river and taking about forty minutes.  What a great time we had!  The river is very shallow at many points, and the long tail boat sits just under the water.  In fact he had to stop a number of times to bucket it out.  But we got to see what all the fuss is about, with so many kayaks in the water and the people tubing floating down the river. There are still a number of bars, but apparently no where near the number that used to be there.  But the scenery is just fantastic and late in the afternoon it was so pleasant out on the water.  At one stage the motor died but he managed to get it started, and another time he was unable to get through the small opening in the rapid and we ended backwards heading to rocks.  But all was well as he finally got through.  Apart from getting wet, we weren't too worried as we could see most of the tubing people were able to stand up, or had to stand up to get their tube moving again.  We figured there was little danger from drowning at this time of the year.

Day beds and huts in use during the day

Busy on the river

Party time

Jim's idea of a selfie

Now there are two buses.  We saw the rope break three times and never got a chance to see if they finally got it out.

We were so glad we did this as it really gave us a good overview of what Vang Vieng and the backpackers are really about.  But at the same time, we saw lots of families with children also floating down the river.  Back at the hotel we found some of our group had gone out to Blue Lagoon in the afternoon, but had been somewhat underwhelmed by it.  They had also nicknamed their tuk tuk driver "Satan".  So it appears we didn' t miss a great deal after all, but ended up with our own great experience.

Dinner was at a lovely spot that overlooked the river, and we managed to grab the last table on the water.  And the food was good too.

Sunday the 22nd was Jim's birthday.  The day started with giving food to the monks, a daily ritual.  Our guide organised fresh food for them and we lined up on our mats along the street.  They all looked so very young.  Our guide also organised for them to chant a blessing for us.

Here come the monks

Food offering

  It was then time to find some breakfast.  A few had ordered theirs for a certain time, but we didn't trust the same place after how long the previous morning had taken, so we headed off with Natacha to the bakery where we didn't have to wait for something to cook.  On our way back we saw most of the others still waiting, and they ended up having to take it with them.

We were in the bus and on our way by 8.00 am.  Although  nowhere near as steep or windy, the road wasn't in any better condition, so it was still a four hour trip to the capital of Vientiane.  We stopped at a fishing village on the way.  It was next to the end of a large dam, and the roadside market stalls had a huge array of fresh, smoked and dried fish of many varieties.  The next stop was just a quick refreshment stop then the final hour and a half into the city.

Dried fish

This is our final night of the tour.  I had booked an extra night for us as we had time up our sleeves.  My research had shown that although the hotel was quite nice, the standard rooms were very cramped and the only window is to the corridor.  As it was Jim's birthday I booked a deluxe and organised with our guide for the tour night to be upgraded.  Our room is lovely, at the front of the building with a little balcony.  It's a large room and even has a day bed.  The others were all very envious after seeing their tiny claustrophobic rooms.

The day bed

We only had fifteen minutes to freshen up and then we all headed out for a lunch of noodle soup.  After this we did an orientation walk, visited the oldest temple in the city, and went to the Victory Arch, something resembling the Arc D'Triomphe, but built to celebrate driving the french out.   Looked like a bit like a stick it up them to me.

Not quite up to standards

Our final group photo at the Patuxay Monument

From here we had tuk tuks to the Cope Centre.  Intrepid supports this centre, and the information centre was quite interesting.  Laos is apparently the most bombed country per capita in the world, and one third, about 80 million bombs are still unexploded.  Farmers and their families are still being maimed by these devices and the COPE centre builds prosthetics at a low cost.  They also help babies born with a club foot.  Another part of the program is trying to educate the villagers to not touch any they find, as the money from scrap metal can be a draw card.

Display and the COPE centre

Another tuk tuk ride back to our hotel, Jim off course headed out for a massage, and it was then our final dinner with the group.  Tudtu our guide took us to a very nice restaurant nearby where we had a lovely table on the top verandah.  A beautiful cake came out at the end for Jim's birthday.