Vang Vieng, Laos

Mandy: 25th November – 1st December

Over the last few months I have encouraged Dad to ‘Google up’ each place that we are visiting. However I am hoping they didn’t ‘Google up’ Vang Vieng because they would have come across the horror stories of how it used to be there a few years ago instead of how it is today. Even I questioned going there when I read about the alcohol and drug fuelled accidents which had happened whilst young backpackers partied in and around the river. From 2,000 visitors a year in 2005 increasing to a massive 170,000 visitors by 2011 the sleepy village by the limestone karsts became totally out of control. In 2011 there were 27 (recorded!) deaths and hundreds of broken limbs. The party ‘paradise’ came to a sudden end one day in 2012 when the government moved in and dismantled the many bars, slides and zip wires along the river.

We were assured that things had changed and it was now a place that sensible tourists visited, with less Westerners and more people from China, Japan and South Korea, and it was. We could see from the vast amount and quality of bars and restaurants that it had grown quickly. Many bars on stilts came complete with the reed mats and slouchy cushioned platforms essential for that hippy backpacker vibe, with many now only a third full. It was a strange place because every single bar and cafe always had at least a handful of people in them. It was as if someone had spread the visitors out to keep every eatery going. As the days went on I thought perhaps people had spread themselves out to get quicker Internet. (The Internet was very slow there, and all of Laos) If a place was empty it was a good idea to go in as you would have the whole wifi bandwidth to yourself!

The scenery was amazing and I thought that we came here for that alone, I did not think about tubing down the Nam Song river, with or without river-side bars pulling you in and putting body paint on you! However Glen, of course, had different ideas! Before I could say ‘it’s a bit like playing human pooh sticks’ I found myself in the back of an old Tuk Tuk with two girls from Korea, a gang of young bikini clad girls and a handful of excited young guys who had suddenly jumped in ensuring we filled the Tuk Tuk to the maximum capacity…..and some!

Old Tuk Tuks (and new vans like these) drove around town looking like over loaded flintstone cars. Kayaks and inner tubes stacked high on top on their way to drop people the 4kms up river so they could float or paddle back to ‘town’

We rattled slowly down the road in an old Tuk Tuk with a pile of inner tubes on the roof. Glen noticed that we couldn’t be driving far in the ‘sardine can’ because the petrol gauge showed empty!….but then again it also showed we were going along at zero miles per hour and without any revs! Before I had time to think or worry about it we had turned off down a track towards the river. We all jumped out and a guy came towards us with a tray of shots. All the young folk stood in a circle and knocked back a shot (of I know not what and I don’t think they did either!) and then they had friendship type bracelets tied to their wrists. They whooped a bit and then off they went towards the bar to presumably have another shot and collect another cotton braided bracelet, leaving their inner tubes in a pile behind them. Glen, myself and the two Korean girls walked down to the waters edge and prepared to start our journey past the limestone karsts.

It was nice to think that it wasn’t just us who had actually come along to experience a gentle (sober) float down the river and to take in the majestic scenery. (smile) However after only a few minutes in the water we passed another bar on the other side of the river. A guy came out shouting for us to go in and they were throwing out a bottle on the end of a rope for us to grab so they could pull us in! We dodged the bottle, smiled politely and waved back at the young tourists who were waving at us, already drinking on the raised wooden platform that was the open air bar. I looked behind and to my surprise the Korean girls were getting out to go to the bar! Well I hadn’t expected that! They seemed so sensible when we were talking to them earlier. They had long sleeves and leggings on to keep the sun off and one of them (like me) had a life jacket on! Well well, you never can tell. On we floated past another bar where people were playing wet volley ball! We could see them as they slipped about throwing a ball towards a net that had a spray of water coming out towards them. Others who were now covered from head to toe in mud were walking towards the river to wash off; still hanging on to the crazy days of ‘water’ sports and excessive booze to pass the time of day.

I on the other hand was concentrating on keeping as much of my body out of the water and on top of the tube because as we got in one of the Korean girls said she saw a water snake! I know we are used to being in the water with creatures a lot bigger than a water snake when we dive but I felt vulnerable with my backside poking into the water through a rubber ring! Anyway on we went slowly down the river. We were told it would take two hours this time of the year; unlike in the rainy season when it would only take an hour in the high, fast flowing waters. I was not too comfortable about not knowing what was ahead of us on the two hour journey and had visions of loosing Glen along the way if one or the other of us went faster or fell out of the ring so I insisted on being tied together! Glen didn’t think it was necessary but agreed (he knew I wouldn’t have done it otherwise!)

So there we were gently making our way down the river on our own, not another person in sight, with an orange piece of synthetic string; which I brought along on this trip to use as a washing line, keeping us together. I had tied our flip flops to either end and suggested we could use them as paddles if necessary. (smile) Glen wasn’t best pleased as it meant he was often going backwards! Time passed and so did Asian tourists on kyaks whooping and hollering at us excitedly as they went. Then suddenly three guys on tubes (the ones who had been drinking shots! who therefore had started later than us) went floating by! “How did they catch us up?” I asked Glen. He pointed out that being tied together slowed us down. He said we should stop holding the orange string and go it alone! Well I was horrified but after a few minutes I realised he was right and in fact what had been happening was a bit like a push-me-pull-you. As one of us went ahead down river the other would suddenly pull back in the opposite direction slightly. After Glen convinced me that he could and would swim over to me if necessary I gathered up the string and Glen all but threw his flip flops into my lap as he sensed imminent freedom. Now we were off (smile) we went along a bit quicker but managed to stay close enough for me not to panic! But as we calmly lifted our bottoms up each time we went faster over the shallow rocks Glen said “I wonder how many Leeches we have stuck to our bottom! (Chuckle)” well that is the last thing I wanted to think about seeing as we had already read that you should watch out for Leeches if you climbed to the top of the waterfall in Luang Prabang and walked across the river….which we did!

Enjoying a well earned beer once we arrived safely at Smiles Bar after bobbing along for two hours (smile)

Relaxing in hammocks watching the locals casting their fishing nets in to the river.

We watched as a girl came down the river on a tube, got out on to the side and waited for her friend to float by and join her in the bar. When the friend appeared, pathetically waggling her arms and feet a bit in an effort to get to the shore, we all watched helplessly as she continued to float on by (chuckle) despite the efforts to pull her in by the ‘tubing staff’. I say tubing ’staff’ I think they were just people from the bar with jackets saying ‘tubing staff’ to get people to stop at their bar instead of the two bars just a bit further down! They had a megaphone and every time a tuber appeared up river they shouted in broken English “come on, come on, come in now.” And as the unknowing tubers did just that and started to walk across the slippery stones in the shallows they would shout “Be careful, be careful…” We found it amusing everytime! Now I think back I think it had something to do with the BeerLaos (chuckle)

This street food put me in mind of a bunch of keys rather than dried meat threaded on bambo coils.

This old wobbly bridge had a sign saying “Please walking careful, don’t sway bridge” I think it’s seen a lot of swaying in its day; time for a new bridge I think!

By the way, while I think of it, when I write about ‘Chinese’ people or tourists in these blogs It could be that they are Japanese/Korean/Taiwanese/Vietnamese etc becuase it’s not really possible to distinguish between the different Asian nationalities. Even a local hotel manager here said he can’t tell the difference between each Asian nationality and he is Asian (born in Singapore) I don’t suppose Irish, Scottish, Welsh, French, German etc look much different to us either if you think about it.

Old habits die hard. Our local neighbours used to sit on tiny chairs (or the floor) to eat their breakfast each morning even though they had perfectly good normal size chairs and tables they could have used. The Grandmother used to come out in her PJs with a woolly hat on. (chuckle) The little girl used to come out first and swish a small branch from a tree over the food to keep the flies off until the Mother and Grandmother came out. She looked so sweet, until she then threw the stick at the cat! Not so sweet after all. (chuckle)

In the same way I don’t put photos of all the temples and monks we see in each place we visit I don’t always tell you when we have seen another funeral or film crew. (yes we have seen more of both since the last photos I posted) I don’t always mention either when Glen gets the opportunity to play a Guitar. One night in Vang Vieng we were listening to a young guy who was playing his Guitar whilst sat on his motorbike in the street. We talked to him and said how we were enjoying his playing and then Glen couldn’t help himself….he asked to have a go! Another guy joined us and complimented Glen on his playing. Although I wasn’t sure if he had come over to enjoy Glen’s strumming or maybe he was really making sure the two of them were playing nicely together and sharing the Guitar! (Smile)

We had been trying to get our head around the feel of Vang Vieng but had failed to be able to describe exactly what it was like. However, on the way back to Vientiane, looking out at the washing drying every few metres on the 153km journey I suddenly thought…. Vang Vieng is like a a beautiful dress or suit that doesn’t fit any more because you have lost weight. You still love the design and appreciate the quality of the material but it doesn’t sit/fit right now that you can’t fill out the tailoring. And as it goes out of fashion you secretly sort of hope you will put weight on in years to come so you can enjoy wearing it again when it is back in fashion.

The sleepy village of Vang Vieng had ‘put on weight’ over a relatively short period of time and ‘bought lots of dresses to wear’ but now the dresses were hanging unworn; albeit in a beautifully ornate wardrobe.

If you looked above the numerous half empty bars and across towards the mountains at sunset nothing had changed. The Sunsets were some of the best we have ever seen. The colours were amazing, surreal. Just imagine what they used to look like for those backpackers high on drugs and full of the local (illegal) buckets Lao Lao whisky! (Wink)

Here are a few of the lovely sunsets we saw during our stay.

This one doesn’t look like a real photo but it is.

Four things we will remember about Vang Vieng:

There were LOTS of (local) children everywhere!

Friends was being played on the TVs in lots of the bars.

The French bread ‘sandwiches’ they sold. (and everywhere in Laos actually)

The beautiful limestone kasts.

ooh five! …….The Asian couple who ran the Laos Haven Hotel, especially Michael! (Smile)

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