WOW ... I spent two days in Vang Vieng... it was amazing... half relaxed and chilled and half party town (although there is still a death penalty for drug taking in south east asia alot of people were still doing weed and opium - crazy people!!)... After the LONG coach ride to get here we were ready for the relaxed vibe - as its so hot not alot goes on in the day... though a lot of people go to these cafes - where they also serve food and sit on these lounge chairs/ or lay down and watch "Friends" or "family Guy" - these are the only two programs on in one of the 20 Loa beer cafe/ restaurants - but it was nice to feel a bit of home creeping in (though also made me a bit home sick from the boredom of the bus ride and tiredness mixed in).

there are also "happy" food you can get freely in the area (happy being the drug ingredient)... which again is surprising given the drug rules!

On the second day alot of us went tubing down the Mekong (very fun) you are literally in a rubber ring and float down 5km of the Mekong river and stop off at bars along the way - was ace... though the current was so strong I couldnt get to any of the bars, got pulled towards the opposite side to everyobe else and almost missed the exit (if you miss the tiny exit sign you need a hell of a walk to get back up... if you dont float all the way down to Vietnam lol)... so it was a bit scary... there had been a storm the night before so most people were told not to go before lunch time and when we did go life jackets were recommended and the banks were flooded - from the other backpackers it sounded unusual for it to be like this (so got a bit unlucky with that one)!! PLUS allthe bars are at the beginning so if you miss em you get floating down for the hour or 2 until you can get off!!

The bars are all great in the evening though - we could get a bucket of mixed booze for only 10,000 KIP (80p) so afew got pissed... it was unfortunate that the main ingrediants was Whisky... thanks to JOJ the sheer smell of the stuff makes me gag...thanks JOJ!!

I must admit we all wished we had a longer amount of time here as it was all so cheap, so hot and more holiday-maker esc... all I would need is a beach and you could easily settle there for a week or two!! Nice and a place I would recommend to everyone!