Laos

Possibly the greatest threat to my survival, it was time for Laos. I only cared about one place here, Vang Vieng, the home of river tubing madness. I flew to Vientiane and then got the bus to Vang Vieng. The bus ride is 4 hours of probably the worst road I’ve ever seen. It’s technically a sealed road, but there’s so many potholes that you pretty much have to hold on to something to not get thrown around the bus.

It’s worth the trip though.. Vang Vieng is outrageous fun. You hire a tube, get transported to the top of the river and tube your way down. On the way there are bars on either side of the river. They throw out ropes which you can grab on to and they will pull you in to the bar. Each bar offers you a free shot on arrival and a string bracelet as a momento of your visit to the bar. These string bracelets gain you street cred, and people proudly wear them around in Laos and often in countries they visit next. Many people end up tubing day after day for up 2 weeks and they have the bracelets, injuries and illnesses to prove it.

Here's me pre-tubing:

I ended up in Vang Vieng for 6 days I think. Three of those days I was tubing, the other three recovering. I picked up quite the collection of ailments whilst there. To be precise, I left Vang Vieng with 6 band aids on me. One of the cuts on my right leg got infected and swelled up a fair bit. My left big toe, which I injured in Bangkok, received further damage as well. So I reached a state where I wasn’t sure which leg to limp on. Also, I picked up a flu toward the end of my time in Laos.

Despite the injuries, the tubing seemed reasonably safe. The river was quite shallow when I was there; shallow enough that you could see a few of the rocks poking out. They had taken down all the rope swings and high platforms, which I think are responsible for most of the fatalities (27 last year apparently). There was one point though where I capsized from my tube and was somewhat struggling against the current, which was very weak. Luckily, Emma (who I met in Bangkok and happened to be in Laos) threw me a rope and some Lao boy, jumped in and pulled me to safety.

Here's another random picture I have of me. As the photo clearly indicates, I was in a hammock, drinking out of a bucket at the time the photo was taken:

I also happened to be there during Laos New Year. The Loatians (if that’s the correct term for Laos people) are smarter than us and have managed to stretch the new year into a 3 day holiday. You have the last day of the old year, a day which is neither in the old nor new year, and then new years day. During the new year, all the locals arm themselves with buckets and water pistols and throw or shoot water all over you as you walk down the street. Also, at one stage, I got invited to sit around with some locals and they cooked me a variety of meats on the BBQ, as well as providing me with Laos beer. Another odd consequence of it being the New Year period was that bars weren’t allowed to play music on the days leading up to the New Year. No idea why this is the case, but It’s just plain weird being at a bar with no music I think.

Also, there’s a pizza story somewhere in here, which only Liane witnessed, and which shall not be told. Speaking of Liane, Vang Vieng was also the last time I would see her. Without really trying, we had somehow managed to always be heading to the same place at the same time and so we pretty much started travelling together. Farewell Liane.. this soldier will battle the world alone once more, armed only with Wikitravel and Hostelworld.

Summary

Awesome:

Drink-tubing

Craptacular:

6 cuts, 1 infection, 1 flu. The price you pay for the awesomeness mentioned above.

What's Next

Vietnam.. you may know this place from such wars as the Vietnam War.