Here we were, in Vang Vieng, the one place that has put Laos on the map. Tubing, the one thing that has become something of a phenomonon in Laos and we were here to do it. We were terribly excited. And then it rained. Not just a little bit. But hellishly. We had been strongly advised the previous day not to go tubing in the rain under any circumstances, as the river can turn from a mellow calming flow, into a death trap within a matter of minutes.

We held out, the storm was intensifying, and a local woman commented that she hadn't experienced weather like this for five years! Just our luck. We only had one day to experience this so called 'phenomonon' and it was chucking it down.

Eventually the rain began to ease off, and then stopped completely, allowing the intense heat to dry the roads as quickly as they had become wet. On this note we hopfooted it to the tubing centre, to pick up our rings and take a tuk tuk ride to the river's start point.

The whol thing vaguely resembled what I had imaginedin my head. A sleepily flowing river, (although I had had flashing images of curling currents and river rapids, none of which I saw thank god) meandering through, lined with arching trees that hung loosely in the browny waters.

Loud music was thumping out some house tunes, as we stood by the first bar. Loas is obviously the place the rich kids flock to, deciding to take their gap year before beginning uni, using Daddy's credit card. They are everywhere, with their tousled hair, designer sunnies, and necklaces wrappe around their wrists. How very rar they all were. Feeling slightly out of place for being older, lack of style, and the posh banter, we decided to hi the water.

All of us now comfortably inserted into our tubes, we floated casually down the river, taking in our surroudings, whilst holder on to each other's tyres so as to not float astray. In the near distance, and the farther distance fr that matter, were makeshift bars made out of bamboo and other wood types. Each one attemting to lure you in, as they tossed rope to haul in it's conquests as they shouted "free shots" and suchlike.

Yes, if you haven't quite grasped the concept yet, tubing involves floating down a river and getting pissed along the way, at the bars. Health and safety would have a field day here. It really is quite unbelievable they let this occur, the possivble dangers are immense, and I'm suprised that as little as five people died whilst doing it last year.

Stopping at the first bar, which was as buy and hecticand load and trendy as the first, we accept the free shots waiting for us and order a drink - a bucket to be precise. After swaying to the cool beats for a whil, we decide to mosey on, - Mark always choosing to enter the water on a zipline - once again, where is the health and saftey, as rosks loom below te waters, plus in parts, the water is so shallow, due to the dry seaon - that and China not allowing other parts of Asia the water, by putting a dam us to curb it's flow.

The day was going swimmingly, we were all having fun, and enjoying the sun bearing down on us in the water below. Disaster struck however at the next bar. One group member, the youngest at 19, had ordered a 'shroom shake' from the bar, and proceeded to down it. She can barely handle one drink, never mind, a concotion of magic mushrooms. Without us noticing, we later found out she had had another one and a half shakes within minutes. It was idiotic to say the least. We, by this time were all back in the waters, and ready to float downstream. The group member in question began making her way back down to the river bank, but as she did so, she fell three times, right to the grounf and rolling over. It was unberrable o watch our friend in this state. She was well and truly out of it. Luckily, Mark took charge and swam beside her, keeping her afloat; if he let go even for a second, she lipped through her ring not even trying to stay afloat. It was scary to witness this, and the prospect of death was propelled to he forefront of my mind. If i wasn't for us, I don't know what would have happened to her.

We stopped at the next bar, to let her sit down. She didn' want to do this though, and we had to create a story that someone else didn't feel well, as we ordered her tw bottles of water, and forced her to vomit. The mushrooms spilled out of her, and came up easily, yet she still wanted alcohol. We refused this, but she became aggressive, and accusatory of our faces. I couldn't hide my look, but for the main part it was worry. Yet, it was also frustration, the day had been ruined as we had to look after someone who was completely rediculous for even contemplating the use of drugs - the penalty for been caught in Laos in death or jail, and no compromise. Her naivety and age shone through today.

Nevertheless, look after her we did, keep her afloat, assist her down steps and into her tube, and buy her botles of water. Needless to say, we didn't make it very far down the 4km stretch of river. I would be surprised if we even managed a quarter of that. It was after six, and we started just after three, and the whold thing was meant to take approximately three hours. But we had to call it quits, dusk was crepping in, and the last thing we wnated to be stranded in ariver at nightfall, with a drugged up girl. Floating to one side, we hauled ourselves and our giant tubes up a riverbank, and hailed a tuk tuk back.

It was a shame we didn't get to experience fully, and that it's tainted by what happened, but hey, we can now all say we have done the phenomonon in Laos that is tubing.