After a very uneventful bus ride (with no air conditioning) we arrived in Vang Vieng around midday and set off in search of a bungalow on the river but ended up in a really nice hotel on the river instead as it was a fraction of the price. After a quick wash we set out to see the town. Within 10 minutes we had walked from one end to the other and decided to find a bar for lunch. This was easy as pretty much every building in Vang Vieng is a bar/restaurant and the only decision you have to make is what film you want to watch whilst laid down (I say film but at least half of them show friends all day everyday). We liked the bar that we found so much that we stayed there all afternoon and watched 3 films back to back. As we were up early the next day to go tubing we decided to make it an early night (how old are we).

The next morning we got to the tubing hire shop and had to sign a disclaimer that we were responsible for anything that happened (it also said if you can't swim don't bother). I feel at this point I should explain what tubing is. In a nut shell it consists of sitting in a tube (which is the inner tube of a truck tire) and floating down the river, stopping at makeshift bars on the way. The form that had to be signed also asked if you wanted a life jacket which Sarah requested, but they didn't give her one. Once the tuk tuk had dropped us off we decided to float down to the second bar (all of 10 meters away) which had a zip line out to the middle of the river which was alot of fun. We had mety 2 other couples and all of us wimpied out of doing the first rope swing as the water wasn't deep enough to cover pebbles but they had dug a ditch which meant you had to let go at the right time. The next bar had a rope swing that was over deeper water so we went on that one instead. Sarah refused to do the rope swing or the zip line but seemed to enjoy the drinking side of things. To cut a long story shorter we continues to do this for the rest of the day. We found a bar that had a mud bath tug of water so Sarah and I challenged another couple but as Sarah seemed more intent on going in the mud bath we lost. Upon entering the mud I grazed my knee on sopme small roicks which was the first of numerous injuries that day. The final bar that we stopped at had a huge slide which threw you out inhto the water from a height of about 15 feet. It was more painful than fun and we saw a few people crying after hitting the water face first. The bar also had a giant rope swing that when you let go was like jumping off the roof of a large house. It was on this that I miss judged when to let go and hit the water on my side and sustained bruised ribs! Although I didn't let it ruin my fun and had a few more goes. It was then that we realised that we had to get our tubes back in an hour and we were only 200 meters from the start (2 1/2 hours away). As we were rushing Sarah got stuck on some rocks and as I helped her off I slipped and landed on a rock scratching my side to complete my injuries for the day. We ended up having to get out at a locals house and walking to the main road to flag down a tuk tuk so we could get back in time to get our deposit back. I don't think health and safety is an issue when it comes to tubing, but that's probably what makes it so enjoyable.