We have been looking forward to Vang Vieng as we heard it has a good night life and that is where the 'Tubing' is which we have heard is a great day and a place called the 'Blue Lagoon' where you can just chill and jump in the lagoon, and also go in a cave.

Today was St Patrick Day and as soon as we got off the bus an Irish lad came up to us with flyers saying, 'The only Irish bar in Laos, come tonight, this leaflet gets you a free drink.' So we all thought, its St Paddy day and we happen to be in the only place in Laos with an Irish bar, got to be done! We checked into the Easy Go Hostel that was recommended to us by Rick, Jamie and Sam. The Germans hadn't booked anything but also used that recommendation and checked into the same place. We all planned to chill the first day and get some food etc, then go out for St Paddy, tubing the next day and then blue lagoon the next.

After checking in we all went and got a pizza at Milano Pizza, we decided we would go back there later before the Irish bar for a couple of drinks as it seemed a nice place. After chilling in the room for a bit, Tim and Ben had a nap(Lloyd managed to sleep on the bus) we went back to Milano, and a couple of beers then hit the Irish bar. It was rammed, people out in the street as it was so full. There was a live singer playing some songs then just normal music. We got chatting to some Coventry girls that got there the night before and they said that everyone leaves here at around half 11 then goes to one of the two clubs that open on alternate nights, tonight was Viva, and it was actually quite good, even if the DJ was a bit dodge and the ladyboys were a bit annoying!

Today was the day we have been looking forward to for a while. TUBING! This is where you hire a lorry tyres inner tube go down to the river and float down going in different bars along the way. There are 4 bars altogether, the first one is before you get in the river and where everybody meets, we saw a lot of people from the night before so it's easy to get a group together. You are welcomed with a free shot, and with every shot you are given a bracelet. You can always tell who has been tubing by the amount of bracelets on their wrist. Everyone then starts making their way to the river and gets in their tube, the water is very shallow and the current is quite fast. It only takes about five minutes to get to Bar 1 where there are local guys on the edge of the river throwing out plastic bottles attached to rope out to you to pull you in. You are given another free shot when you arrive at every bar and of course another bracelet. The first bar has volley ball, we gave it a go but the sand was way too hot it just wasn't working! After a few drinking games we all move on to the next two bars, the second has a basketball nets that sprays water out at you, which was fun and also a dancefloorplatform. This is known to be the best bar of the 4 and we agreed. The last one is a bit more chilled, there are loads of hammocks where you can chill if you want but we stayed standing and socialising!

The tubing was so fun but we just can't imagine how good it would have been a couple of years ago when there were around 50 bars down the river and zips lines going across. All but four of the bars were closed as 7 travellers died one year either from drowning or falling off the zips lines. Apparently next year there are a few more bars opening again.

Today we went to the blue lagoon. It's about a half hour Tuk Tuk ride away down the bumpiest road. When we got there we were surprised to see how blue the water was. There is a big tree that leans over the lagoon with two levels you can jump off, naturally we threw our bags down went straight to the highest point of the tree you can jump and launched ourselves off, the water was so refreshing, as most of it was in the shade, the first time I think we can say that we have been in cold water but it was still so nice. After a few hours of jumping in and swinging on the rope swings we had a spot of lunch then made the steep climb up to see the cave. Before you go up you are recommended to rent a head torch for 10000 kip, less than a quid. Lloyd had a torch in his bag so didn't get one. Once in the cave it isn't that dark but as soon as you go round the corner through the tight crevices it is literally pitch black. The cave is huge, goes on for miles, we were trying to find the most obscure places to go, maybe where people hadn't been before. There are no paths so you can go where you want and it is very easy to get lost, just as we found out! Not for long though when we recognised some rocks and marks on the wall we had seen before.

Our bus was booked for 9 am the next morning and after two nights out we decided to just get some food and chill out tonight ready for our trip to our last stop in Laos before Thailand, Luang Prabang.