Moving on from Luang Prabang we boarded a pretty comfortable minibus and embarked upon a treat of a journey. The scenery en route was absolutely stunning. As our bus expertly wound through mountains that rose up from nowhere, their peaks jaggedly cutting up the skyline, all of us on the bus gained a new appreciation for how amazing Laos is. Not only that, we drove through several small villages and caught glimpses of genuine Laos life (albeit from the window of a bus. Children were seen both hard at play (we saw recently made swings straining under the weight of several Laos kids and I even saw a boy playing with a hoop and a stick, seeing if he could run after the hoop fast enough - a game associated with Victorian times at home) and hard at work. There were children as young as seven digging up the road and even younger kids beating the palm leaves on the dirt, flattening them to make roof tiles.
We eventually arrived in Vang Vieng, famous as Laos' party destination thanks to the scene that has sprung up on the river banks. Sadly we arrived to disappointment. The weather for the first two days more closely resembled home (i.e. grey and drizzly) than the bright sunshine and 30+ degrees I had begun to expect. We also had a power cut for the first day so we spent a couple of days doing very little. Our most strenuous activity involved the walk to the Organic Mulberry Farm a couple of km out of town, where we visited the goats and sampled their yummy food - all made in house - including tasty goats cheese. We also got a good view of the bars on the other side of the river, cheesy music blasting and drinks clearly flowing pretty freely. We were definitely ready to party the next day!
River tubing is what Vang Vieng is famous for (renting a giant inner tube ad floating down the river hopping form bar to bar) but we decided to skip the tubes anbd walk it instead. Sound dull? It defintey wasn't and we didn't have to worry about our tubes getting nicked and losing our deposits (commonplace) or about geting stupid in the water after one too many. This is honestly good advice as the combination of alcohol, tubing, rope swings etc kills several people a yar in Vang Vieng.
When we did party we had an excellent time, the bar staff are really friendly and everyone is there to have a good time. There are people walking around with spray paint and stencils to tattoo you (be warned - it's car paint) and random people graffitti-ing obscenities on any exposed skin they can find. It is a good idea to pace yourself on the river as the party continues back in town in the evening with more cheesy music in the bars on the main strip, and a more chilled out vibe later on in the bars down on another stretch of river. Our own experience was that we should have left for the evening session later as town doesn't pick up til after 10.30 but we had our buzz on from the river and wanted to keep going, which meant most of us didn't last very long (if we made it out in the evening in the first place - you know who you are!)
An excellent hangover cure after the excesses of tubing is a visit to the blue lagoon. This is a beautiful natural pool a short tuk-tuk ride from the centre of town. The water is beautiful (and soothing) to swim in and there are plenty of spots to laze in the sun. If you are feeling more active there is also a cave to explore. We didn't feel up to this and instead spent our time sunbathing, drinking fruit shakes and taking very unattractive underwater photos.
All in all Vang Vieng was a lot of fun but after a week of partying and chilling out it was time to move on.
Next stop: Vientiane - Laos' capital city.
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