Laos (Tubing)

Before I begin my 2 week blog about Laos, I will tell you how our ordeal ended in Cambodia.... Well following our several hour wait after our cow killing accident, we arrived in a town called Stung Treng around 6pm- The Laos border closes at 4pm!!! So we were therefore stuck in Cambodia for yet another night... This was not welcomed news to any of us, apart from the fact that we couldn't wait to leave this cow killing country; we were in a ghost town of a place, there was not even an ATM that worked!! Plus we had to stay in a hostel that was filthy dirty and looked like something out of a 1950's horror movie!!!... So after a restless night, we finally got our 20 minute minibus ride to the Laos border. We got our Visa on arrival which was about 40 dollars, but I recommend that you get it beforehand as it is cheaper.... Let me just say this, even though our experience of Cambodia was not that great, we have met many a traveler who loved it, so I guess our Cambodia experience was just a case of bad luck...


LAOS

From the border we got a minibus to a town called Paxai, we arrived early afternoon and as there did not seem to be much there we booked a sleeper bus for that evening to the capital of Laos- Vientianne. The sleeper bus was quite comfortable but was extremely cold as the air con was on full blast; our journey was 13 hours and we arrived in Vientianne around 7am. We eventually found an affordable hostel where we stayed for 2 nights. Vientianne is a nice city, plenty of restaurants, shops and bars there is also a small market along the river at night..
Following our 2 day stop over, we got a 4 hour coach ride to Vang Veng- which was our main reason for coming to Laos.

VANG VENG

To sum it up, lively, young, fun, friendly, alcohol fueled party place; This was one of our ultimate destinations as so many people had told us about Vang Veng and the famous activity of 'Tubing'... Firstly I'll start by explaining what 'Tubing' is as many of my friends often ask. Well, if you imagine a freshwater river that has quite a strong current, along a stretch of this river (about a mile) there are several bars on both sides. Each bar has its own music, which is pumping, and full of people- many of whom are intoxicated and having fun. At all of the bars there is some kind of 'ride' - a swing, a Zip line, a jumping platform or a slide, all of which entail the person who participates to end up in the river. The term tubing arises from the fact that you can rent a rubber tube- big round rubber ring, from the town and then use this tube to float down the river from bar to bar. When you are floating near a bar you are thrown a rope and pulled in and are given a free drink; on top of the unlimited amount of free shots that anyone can receive at each bar. So now you should kind of get the picture on what 'Tubing' is.....

We were in Vang Veng for 14 days, 10 of which we spent down at the river bars; however we never did rent a tube. To be honest you don't really need one, firstly they are quite expensive, and secondly you have to put a deposit down; if you don't take your tube back to the shop by 6pm then you loose your money. And lets be logical on this one, many 'tubers' did loose there deposit, after all a majority of them are so intoxicated due to the free alcohol practically poured down their throat that they are bound to miss the 6pm deadline. Without a tube you can either swim from bar to bar or merely walk... so we choose this option as we knew we would more than likely never meet the deadline...

Okay, so think I've summed up and given an accurate picture of the daily riverside experience of tubing- now for the nightlife...

The town of Vang Veng is where all the hostels, restaurants and bars are, it is about a 10minute tuk tuk ride from the river. So after tubing everyone goes back to the town, where many drunken souls would eat in one of the many restaurants or from one of the many baguette stalls... The baguette stalls there selves are a sight- of an evening they appear everywhere and are scattered along the streets; and at 1000kip each (about 1 pound) with any filling of your choice, they are extremely cheap and hence sell really well. However after 2 weeks of consuming untold amount of baguettes, I was overindulged on them...

There are many bars in the town of Vang Veng that go on till the early hours, so I will tell you about the main 3 we frequented... To start the night off we would go to Q bar, where upon entry you were often made to do a shot... and if you arrived between 9.30 and 10pm you would receive a free bucket... by 'bucket' I actually mean a bucket; Think seaside sand buckets from your childhood memories, but instead of sand these 'buckets' were filled with tiger whiskey and your choice of mixer. Tiger Whiskey is the local Laos alcohol and is extremely cheap. Hence every free shot or bucket you received would be this local whiskey. To be fair I'm not normally a whiskey drinker, but tiger Whiskey isn't that bad, but after 2 weeks of consuming it, we were sick of it.... So after our free shot and bucket at Q bar, we would soon move on to Bucket Bar, where they too would give out free buckets between 10-10:30pm... So if you were quick you could gain 2 free buckets in the space of an hour. Bucket bar is one of the biggest and busiest bars, it has good music, good vibes and a large dance floor. There were a few small bars next door to Bucket bar, but these were often empty until Bucket bar closed around 2am. Sunset Bar is down the road and a little distance from the rest of the bars, but if you like to dabble in 'other' substances then this is the bar to go to... Of course we never went there....

We thouroughly enjoyed our time in Vang Veng and I highly recommend it if you love to party and have a good time. However I feel 2 weeks may have been a few days too many and I think that 10 days would have been plenty. Also health and safety is practically non existent at the river bars, so it is a must that you are careful especially if you have a go on one of the many 'rides', we see many injuries whilst we were there.... Also on our last day Bobbie jumped in the river and received an inch deep cut o n her leg that required 4 stitches.... She recovered well, but does now have a scar for life... you have been warned....