TUBING... woohoo!

07/10/07 - 09/10/07 Dok Boua $5

The bus station at Vang Viang is just pretty much a gravel strip in the middle of nowhere, it's actually an old airstrip, which might explain its random appearance and why we must have looked quite so lost when we arrived there. Luckily the bus driver took pity on us and actually let us jump back on so he could take us the short journey into the town and drop us by some cheap guesthouses.

We decided to spend our second day "tubing", which is basically where you sit in a big rubber ring (I think they were tractor inner tubes or something) and let the current carry you along the Nam Song river through rapids etc. We booked with a little company just outside the centre at around 9.25am and then rang back to our hotel in a mad rush to make sure we were ready for the 9.30am start. By the time we got back, the tuk-tuk taking everyone to the various trips was tightly packed so Hazel and me got to perch dangerously on the back, which was loads of fun and made us both feel very big and clever (a very male attitude to danger!). Anywho, only the three of us were going tubing so we got dropped off around 10km out of town with our life jackets (Mel's had a rather lovely crotch strap... I'll get the pics up soon), rubber rings and our guide Lieng who sailed around in his kayak trying to take care of us. Luckily for mel, her crotch strap disaster didn't stop Lieng taking a shine to her!

Bit of a random fact... but it is actually illegal for a Lao to have a nudge-nudge, wink-wink "intimate" relationship (Jess that means boyfriend and girlfriend) with a foreigner unless they are married and breaking the law can result in imprisonment... wierd. Although... just to clarify... Mel had no intention of breaking the law!

I really have to say that this was the most fun thing we have done so far on this trip and scores high in the all-time "good times" stakes. At the beginning of the trip I was a bit freaked out, as I hate fish with their beady wee eyes and thought they might all try and get me, but I soon got over it! ....Then Mel got stuck in a tree and had to get Lieng to pull her out... meanwhile me and Hazel got dragged through some random trees in the middle of the river, I freaked out cos I could feel branches and things touching me... then nearly got washed up on the rocks and finally managed to get carried loads further upstream and had to go through the big rapids on my own!

Anyway after we had recovered mel from the trees and everyone caught up with me we got back on track and just laid back chilling out and looking at the amazing scenery. For the first 5km of the trip we didn't see anyone else on the river, just a few locals fishing, etc, but it was really nice and peaceful. Further along, where all the 5km trips start from we made a few stops at the riverside bars which are really cool, they just throw a rope out to you and then pull you in (at the first one we stopped at the guy looked just like a very muscly rambo!). Unfortunately me and Mel didn't stop in time, so the bar staff had to swim out and get us and then we had to walk back along the bank.

Ignoring all warnings of how alcohol and tubing don't mix we got ourselves a few beers and then sampled the free lao-lao (a local spirit) on offer... yum! Then Hazel and I decided to have a go on the super high rope swing from which we launched ourselves back into the river. I thought I was a pretty decent swimmer, but the currents are crazy, so rambo had to pull me back in again. I have no idea how those guys were strong enough to catch me and mel and drag us back to the bank!

The next bar we went into was awesome... a bit further along and had a volleyball courts out the back. Lieng loves his volleyball so we all went and had a few games, dragging in extra players every so often. The sun was shining and the music was good. Everytime I hear outcast's hey ya from now on I will think of Lieng dancing away while we played. There were also some other great classics like eye of the tiger, which Hazel just couldn't resist and there were top gun hi-fives flying all over the place (can't believe Raj missed it!). It wasn't long before the storms found us and the court turned into a muddy brown swimming pool, but even that couldn't stop us so we carried on!!!

By the time we got back it was around 4.30pm and we were covered in rashes from the ring and scrapes from the trees, so after a quick shower it was time to stuff our faces with Pizza (a traditional Lao dish?!?) and get our heads down. I was also very amused to receive the largest "happy" menu I have ever seen... I dread to think what it would be like back home if it was so easy to buy a bag of weed with your meal. We all declined... although the way we wolfed our food down you'd have thought we had major munchies, hehe!

Woke up this morning looking like a set of battered wives, with bruises everywhere and in Mel'sd case a massive rash down the front of one leg from where she'd gone into the tree, but despite the injuries it was definitely worth it!