DAY 18 - 3 OCTOBER 2010 - TUBING & BUCKETS

Vang Vieng is in a picturesque location, on the river and overshadowed by huge jungle-covered mountainous peaks. But none of this really matters because the main reason people come here is to float down the river on an inflatable tube, being pulled into bars along the way and drinking alcohol in the bucketload, quite literally.

It was an awesome experience, people from all over the world coming together to converge on the river to party in a format that doesnt exist anywhere else (possibly because it's got less chance of being given a health and safety certificate than 'baby knife wars'). You get dropped by a tuk-tuk about 3km upstream from the town and start with a couple of beers and free shots of Lao Lao (strong Lao whisky with wasps floating in it) whilst people paint expletives on your body and tie things round your head to promote their bar.

Then it's into the tube to float down the river and into the next bar. This process of river-to-bar is achieved by a sort of 'tourist fishing' where the locals from the bar lob a water-filled bottle with a rope attached to it at you and pull you in. Once at each bar, the music is loud and the alcohol cheap. Most also have a rope swing or zip-line into the water. This is just as fun to watch as it is to have a go yourself, everyone is just waiting for the person who doesnt let go before the end of the zip-line and gets flipped backwards into the water.

About half way down the river, I joined a group of English lads for an impromptu game of footy on the sand against the locals in a 'loser buys the beers' scenario, expertly masterminded by one of the lads who sensed we were onto a winner. 3-0 was the final result, and we were all brimming with patriotic pride as we supped on our Beer Lao trophies. A couple of the locals felt the sharp end of a knee-high tackle or two, all in the name of St George of course (if we can't do it in actual international competitions then we'll damn well do it on a patch of sand behind a bar in Laos!)

Having reached the final bar on the river, the race was on to get back to the town before nightfall. It's about 45 mins of floating away and not easy in the dark. Sensing we may not make it before sunset, we got together in a big group, locked arms and legs and formed a big drunken floatilla for the journey. It was an amazing experience, floating down the river laughing and drinking with a bunch of fellow travellers as the sun set behind the mountains. Getting out was less easy as you are basically forced to grab onto something on the riverbank to avoid being swept downstream, not easy for Janine given that her little arms and legs barely extended beyond the tube, but with the help of me and a few of the lads, she was rescued from the reeds.

From there is was back to the guesthouse to get changed and then head back out to the bars to watch the Chelsea vs Arsenal match and dance the night away. A truly memorable day (although maybe less so for all the gooners we were with!)

DAY 19 - 4 OCTOBER 2010 - CHILLING OUT

Not a lot to write about, had some breakfast, then had some lunch etc etc. One good thing about Vang Vieng is that it caters well for those on the 'day after the night before' with lots of little restaurant/cafe's/bars set out with cushions on the floor and either Friends, Simpsons or Family Guy playing constantly on big tv's.

Here are a few other things we have noticed about Laos:

1. There are ice-cream men in ice-cream vans (bicycle tuk-tuks) that actually play the same ice-cream van jingles that everyone remembers from their childhood!

2. The French influence is everywhere, and if you need a cheap lunch or breakfast the baguettes are awesome. Street vendors and small restaurants all sell fresh, warm baguettes filled with ham, tuna, chicken, cheese (always Laughing Cow) etc for about 70p.

3. In Laos, if someone says a journey will take 4 hours, it will take at least 6.

4. The roads are AWFUL, and make for some long journeys (see 3)

5. Laos people are very chilled out, tuk-tuk drivers barely even seem like they want your business as they recline in their on-board hammocks by the side of the road. This is in stark contrast to Thailand where they will literally follow you down the road

DAY 20 - 5 OCTOBER 2010 - CAVING AND KAYAKING

We decided to balance out our day of inactivity with a day of pure exertion, boarding a bus for a trip out of town with some Russians (loud) and Japanese (quiet) for a morning of caving and an afternoon of kayaking.

After a quick look around a sacred cave, that was sacred because one of the rocks looks a bit like an elephant if you look at it from the right angle and squint a bit, we made our way through the rice fields to the 'proper' cave. The second cave is partly submerged and as such you start out tubing through it! Everyone with their head-torches strapped on, floating through the cave on tubes, trying to ignore the echoing sounds of Russian banter up ahead. After ditching the tubes, we had to negotiate our way through a long passage about 2ft in height, army-crawling on our hands and knees, not one for the claustrophobic!

After the caving and lunch came a 2 hour trip down the river in kayaks with a couple of rapids en route to spice it up a notch. Janine just managed to stay aboard and so we avoided a repeat of the white-water rafting episode, although it was funny watching her flailing about trying to keep her balance. Perhaps more disappointing was the fact that the noisy Russians also managed to stay dry!