A reasonable short one this time!!... we have had quite a bit of time on our hands!
3^rd February

Up early, this time to write the blog (the last post!), as we didn’t take the laptop on our motorbike trip (in case we fell over and smashed it!)  I leave Lorraine to pack whilst I tap away until 10am. 

By 1pm we have arrived by plane to the Laos Capital, Vientiane and follow the well rehearsed routine of…..  dump the bags and go straight out!

In minutes we have rented a moped and are heading 25km out of town to Buddha park, the dream of an eccentric monk in the 50s…..  basically loads of massive Buddha sculptures.

Back on the bike, to quickly get to the next sight before sunset…….  Only the bike won’t start….  Bugger…..  20mins later and still no joy, so we give the shop a ring to come and get us…..  only….. THEY WONT!!!!....  anyway, it’s a bit boring but following 2 hours and several people trying to start it and 45 MINUTES on MY PHONE ($3 per min!!!) …. They still won’t help…… we end up putting the bike on the back of a pickup and heading back into town…… for $10, however, when we arrive, they refuse to pay the Tuk Tuk driver the money for bringing us back!.....  

My temper now fully lost, we eventually get our passport back, with a reasonable amount of intimidation! (had they not had the passport, I would have left the bike at the Buddha park……. On fire!) and continue to argue with them about who should pay the pickup guy…… 45mins later, it’s now 7pm and having wasted 4 precious hours on this, we tell them to stick it and sort it out amongst themselves and walk off with all parties shouting and threatening to call the police!!   Anyway we try to forget about it and 10 mins later we are having a lovely French dinner with a bottle of Beaujolais!   Nice.

4^th February

Having wasted most of yesterday, we wake up early and race round a load of the sights Vientiane has to offer, mainly because we have booked a VIP Bus ticket, to leave at 2pm to Vang Vieng, 150km up river.

So with no time to waste, it’s a stroll along the river, then the oldest surviving temple in Vientiane, Wat Si Saket with hundreds of sculptures of Buddha. 

Then it’s on to That Dam, a Stupa in the middle of a roundabout, the main market in Vientiane for some hookey DVDs for the bus.  

Next is the “Arc de Triomphe” of the city, built with American concrete in the 60’s, intended to be used for building a new airport!  

A short cab ride and we arrive at Wat Pha That Luang, a golden temple, whose image is used on all the currency.  

Back in town and its Wat Haw Pha Kaeo, which houses a museum of religious art, Wat Mixai, then 

Wat In Paeng, then Wat Not, Wat ever, and finally, Wat Time Will The Bus Leave So We Can Stop Looking Round All These Wats!

2pm and our Luxury VIP Bus arrives…..  humm…..  VIP?....  not sure…..  I think it might mean  “van is poor”

3 hours and one film later we arrive in Van Vieng, a well know town on the backpacker trail.  This place is quite unlike any place we have been before.  

Its full of tourists, guest houses, restaurants and bars.  Loads of the bars are showing TV shows on repeat with dazed looking kids chilling out to watch the entire 48’000 episodes of either “Friend’s” or “Family Guy”???....  quite weird?

We find a bar with wifi and finish the blog and chill out with a beer.    Wow…  we’re exciting!!

5^th February

We wake early to see two of the main reasons why this place has become sooo popular, the river and the limestone mountains.

Very impressive!  Anyway, we are up early to get on a tour, today we are going climbing and kayaking.  

First off climbing, great fun, except on the last climb (the easiest???....)  

Lozza slips and falls down, not far, only a couple of feet, but she managed to spin round and scratch her back, not good, but after the initial “the world ending” cry and the “I don’t want to do anymore!!!”, she picks  herself up and finishes the climb.  My brave little soldier!

After lunch we jump into the kayaks and head down the river…..  and we soon come across the MAIN reason all the kids are here.  Tubing.  To be fair, this is also the main reason why we are here, but more of that tomorrow…..  we trundle down river and arrive back in the town about 3 hours later.  

That night we end up in a bar till 1am.

6^th February

Bleary eyed, we wake up and head off for our next tour, round a few caves in the mountains…..  to be honest, we are feeling a little knackered as we make our way round them, but then we get to the main event…..  Tubing.   We arrive at the main river to the town, nearly 8km away and receive our tube.  It’s a large tractor tyre inner tube.  Basically you jump in the middle and float down the stream until you get back into town…..  sounds lovely?  Great views, fab scenery.  But do you think that’s why all the kids are here?  No.

Once past the first 1km the first of the bars emerges from the jungle, followed by the next and the next and the next, each with VERY loud music blaring out and hundreds of party goers dancing on the verandas. 

As you float by, each bar has a guy with a half filled water bottle, tied to a rope and with outstanding accuracy will fling the bottle, up to 100ft into the lap of a passing tuber and haul them to a ladder, into the bar for a drink!  

But How do all these bars get their customers, you might ask?.....  well you have to have a gimmick, obviously.  These vary from bar to bar, but mainly revolve around one premise.  “How to get your customers into the river, in the most spectacular fashion?”   

Originally, I suspect, this was a high point/platform from which drunken revelers would jump into the deep water, however, competition is rife, and this has evolved into a myriad of slides, runways and swings, each higher faster than the last.  It is a wonder that more people don’t end up hospital as the swinger lands…..  in the same water that the tubers float down stream in, and its only their own judgment that means they don’t land on an innocent canoeist!!!!  ....  you might notice the very large poles in the first picture.....  ye, that's the high point, that the swing rope is attached to!!!!!.... very big swings!

Given the number of people swinging overhead, the tubing experience is an adrenalin filled water ride as you desperately weave your way through the landing zones!   And you can imagine as the Buckets of booze flow.. (literally….  Remember new year in Koh Pangang?... it’s the same here!) ..  the testosterone level rises and so do the antics!! 

Yes I had a go on the slide and the swing….  But each was a fairly dull entry, compared to the other guys!!  

My particular favorite was this guy who manages to open a can of lager and take a swig, before hitting the water!

Needless to say, by 6pm we are quite inebriated and jump into a Tuk Tuk back to town.  (because we were fortunate enough to go canoeing yesterday, we did the same route, and after the 2 km of bars….  The water slows down to a standstill.  We passed loads of drunken tubers struggling to paddle their way through the last 4km back to town…..  SOD that, we’re getting a taxi!!!)

7pm and we weave our way back to the hotel to get changed and carry on the party…….  1am we wake up, still in our damp clothes…..  never mind….  Well we aren’t as young as we were!

7^th February

After our longest sleep to date, we have a day of relaxing, so it’s off to the river for breakfast and a vitamin rich shake.  Except, we don’t have time to relax, I'm typing the blog and Lozza is doing her journal.  It’s now mid day, so we’re off to lunch…..  who knows what we will be up to this evening!!!

20 days and we will be back to reality…..  L

See you later!!

W&L