Nigel: Vang Vieng has a feel of the Spanish beach resort with its bars & restaurants but has that little bit of class about it that reminds you that you're still in Laos. The main purpose of stopping in Vang Vieng is to carry out the recreational sport which is commonly known as "tubing". In layman's terms it means floating down the river in an inner tube from a tractors wheel and stopping at several of the bars along the way. You are taken 3km up stream and then you're left to your own devices. There is no safety video or guide to help you. The only rules that are enforced by the company that operates the sport is that all tubes must be back before 6pm or additional charge will be incurred. So, ring in hand we set off down the river and we must have gone about 30 secs before some one from the bar situated on the river bank threw a rope with a bottle of water attached on the end into the river which you grab and they pull you in. You're then able to buy drinks and sit and watch everyone else go down. One thing we didn't know was that everyone goes about 2pm or later and we arrived at 12pm. There were a few people on the river but as it was quiet it allowed us to drink in peace and have the whole river to ourselves. Along the way there are about a dozen or so bars that you can stop at. Some of them have rope swings or sports games that you can use and one has even constructed a massive water slide out of concrete. Unfortunately it was shut when we went. We had a few drinks along the way but after a while the bars stop and you are left to float down the river. When you get to the town again you are dragged in by the local kids who are playing in the water. They do want paying for this service though.

In the town there are many bars, restaurants and guesthouses you can choose from. The main thing that has caught on in Vang Vieng is that they play re-runs of old episodes of Friends & Family Guy one after another. You are able to lie on mats and watch them all day if you wanted to. We watched a few and it was a bit of a change. When we started to see repeats of the repeats, we knew it was time to move on.

Alison: Vang Vieng is a really fun place with lots going on. Although we took part in tubing, it was a very tame affair compared to some people. Every night you would witness VERY drunk people staggering down the street. They were often wearing only swim wear and one/no flip flops. Many would also have been drawn all over with various colourful designs. The locals would look on in total despair as this type of behaviour is frowned upon by many of the people of Laos. They are quiet people and they dress very discreetly so they can be quite shocked by the Western boozy culture. Having said that though, they do consume a very large amount of the crazily strong Laos whiskey known as Lao Lao. It was not uncommon to see them drinking it at breakfast time. Since Lao Lao is so cheap, we thought we would give it a whirl! I couldn't possibly drink it on its own but in a cocktail it isn't so bad. In Vang Vieng, it is common to drink 'buckets' which are literally just buckets of cocktail. One night we tried a couple, got a taste for them, and ended up in the famous Bucket Bar. This bar is on an island created by the river. We had a brilliant time in there and met some cool people but it was all quite hazy the next day :-/ Never under-estimate the power of the bucket!!

Around Vang Vieng there are many caves to visit. One day we hired out push bikes and tried to cycle to some of them. It was a really hot day and though we found some of the lesser known caves, we couldn't find the one we really wanted to see. The roads to the caves are terrible to cycle on so we gave in after a few hours. When we got back to town we decided we deserved a relaxing massage. We found a place that looked reasonable but it wasn't as relaxing as we anticipated as the girls were chatting between themselves throughout the massage. My massage was ok but Nigel didn't enjoy his at all. The traditional Laos massage is very similar to the Thai massage. It involves the same pushing, pulling and cracking techniques. The girl Nigel had was particularly rough with him and there was lots of painful stretching going on. One move that they do involves leaning on your groin really heavily and then releasing the pressure slowly. This is all very well but you have a major blood vessel in your groin and it is important not to lean for too long. Nigel's girl actually accepted a call on her mobile whilst performing this pressure move on him! She was chatting away and he had to ask her to stop. She was enjoying her conversation too much though so he had to actually nudge her off! To get over the experience, we had to head straight to the Aussie Bar to hit the whiskey buckets.....it's a hard life :-)