15/09/09
One good night's sleep and a french breakfast scoffed down later we caught the 9.30am bus to Vang Vieng. We'd previously been used to being the only foreigners on the bus but this time we were joined by a whole coach load of tourists eager for a slice of Laos amazing beauty and entertainment.
Three hours later we arrived and as the bus opened its doors we found out where the sun had been hiding! Stepping outside our shoes sizzled on the tarmac and our faces began to melt. Within a few minutes we found ourselves a huge room with ensuite for 50,000 kip (just over 3 pounds a night)-perfect if there were no rats!
We quickly left the hotel to see what Vang Vieng had to offer and as we walked down to the main streets it appeared a little like a ghost town, passing cafes and restaurants without a single soul other than the staff who would greet us with a huge smile. That's something we have loved in Laos, literally everyone is so welcoming, happy and complete with cheek to cheek grins.
About ten minutes from our hotel we stumbled across the amusingly titled 'bridge of death', though the children playing and diving around it undermined its title. As we watched them it seemed a perfect place to spend a childhood with this huge natural playground. The other end of the bridge bought us to the Sunset Bar, lined with hammocks overlooking the river. After getting our feet wet but not quite brave enough to venture further into the murky water we checked out the menu at the bar in search of cold drinks to pass the afternoon. The menu consisted of 'buckets' (large amounts of alcohol), and 'funny for you' drinks- ganja and mushroom shakes. At first I thought it was a joke as the drug laws in Laos are so strict- dealing leads to the death penalty- but then I noticed the signs advising not to smoke cannabis in the hammocks but to talk to a bar tender for further advise regarding a suitable venue! As it ws the afternoon and we were both quite content we opted for a simple Beer Laos instead!
As we curled up in our hammocks we could see why people would want to spend hours doing nothing here, but we soon found ourselves totally relaxed with no need for superficial highs. It couldn't get anymore perfect, the karst mountains raising above the horizon from the opposite bank of the staggering river and lush greenery all around, with the local children having heaps of fun making games with sand and rocks. Mothers were washing their children's hair and clothes in the water and the barman chose Air's 'Talkie Walkie' to sooth us in to a state of pure bliss. We spent a couple of hours just swinging gently watching the world go by.
As the bar started to get a little busier and our bellies started to rumble we made a move and found a restaurant full of low tables surrounded by cushions called Santana's, thankfully not dedicated to the widdling rock group. It was almost empty so we weren't too sure how good the food would be, but the cheap prices drew us in. Watching the smoke rise from the shielded kitchen we could hear our order being frshly prepared and out came a cabonara as good as my mum's with a milkshake so good we ordered another- banana and milo!
It gets dark so quick out here that when it's 8pm it feels a lot more like gone midnight and with our full days it inevitably leads to pathetically early nights. This was where we found our hotel's fault- it's right next to one of the loudest clubs in town! Lying in bed we could feel the walls and floor jumping in time with the kick drum, although after just a couple of songs this had some hjow soothed us to sleep!
The next day we woke and hurried ourselves along to meet a tour group for a days worth of activities. We drove about half an hour up the river for our first challenge, exploring the caves. In order to see them we first had to kayak across the fast flowing river. Most of the group had never done kayaking before, including myself, so we were given a brief tutorial by our awesome English speaking guide named Sang. There was ten of us in our small group anfd it was two per kayak, the person at the back providing the muscles. Laura naurally took the back seat much to the guide's amusement. He then pushed us into the river and for the first twenty seconds we were doing pretty well, but halfway out the current added to some bad steering decisions saw us head down the river and staright into a rock, much to our hilaious panic! We pushed away from it and ended facing the wrong direction, and steering against the current was near impossible, so we shamefully disembarked a fair few feet down the river in a bramble bush! Thankfully the couple to follow did a full reenactment to ease our embarrassment. It was far from lifethreatening but did make me wonder how we would cope with the rapids that would follow later in the day!
As we trekked towards the cave the sky suddenly darkened and the heavens opened. Within five seconds we were drenched in the monsoon rainstorm. It had been blazingly hot so the cool wtare was a relief until the pasth we were following turned into a flowing mudslick. Climbing up rockier paths into the jungle our flipflops were not up to the job, so we continued barefoot like proper jungle trekkers! Arriving at teh cave entrance we had to descend into the eerie black hole on steps covered in mud and utterly trecherous, but aftre a few careful minutes we were in the chmaber with just our headlamps for light. As we began to travel further in there was a sliding thud behind me. I turned to see Laura covered in mud from head to toe. It was damned hilarious, but as we carried on she discovered that she had got a large stone lodged in the ball of her foot causing a large chunk of skin to come away in a flap, which was collecting more gritted as we continued into the still slippery floor, but the huge chamber and amazig rock fromations were keeping us interested. As the guides called 'Be careful' every few seconds in voices designed to echo around the caves walls Laura's injury caused us to lag behind the group until suddenly we had no idea where they were! Thankfully a guide had stayed at the back of the group as we had read stories of tourists getting lost for days and even perihing in the caves vast networks! Nevertheless, we soon found the exit and breathed fresh air again.
The next cave seemed even more daring and was initially quite terrifying! We were exploring a deep, dark water cave on top a a floating inner tube, guiding ourselves along a piece of rope. After a few minutes we left our tyres and crawling on our bellies like cavemen into the depths of the cavern before wading through black water that submerged us to our hips. The guides joked about the snakes in the water whilst repeating their fasvourite 'Be careful!' line. Once again we had to commando crawl through another section, our noses touching the floor as we we made ourselves small enough to fit through- like he film 'The Descent' but without the gore! It anyone had stopped too long to think about what they were doing it would have easily enduced a panic attack, with no easy way out at this point. The guy infront of me looked to be having one of those moments appearing pretty agitated, but Laura and I had massive grins on our ridiculously muddy selves!
When we reached light again then rain returned in an intensely haevy storm. We huddled under the wooden roof and scoffed our luch before heading to the Elephant cave, a much less challenging adventure as the whole in the rock face simply holds a Buddha image and a rock formation which looks a bit like an elephant. It was time to return to Vang Vieng, but this time via the river which we were to kayak down for the next three hours! At points we hasd to negotiate rapids- nothing to difficult but enough to capsize a few members of the group. Somehow Laura and I had learned from our rubbish start and were tackling the waters damn well- getting ahuge buzz each time we completed a hairy section successfully. During the gentler moments we could stop rowing and let the river do the work whilst we sat back and enjoyed the magnificnet scenery. It was mountain peaks and jungle all the way, like a scene from Apocalpse Now, one of the most beautiful and peaceful places ever- until we were three quarters of the way through! Suddenly drum and bass was ripping through the jungle with hoards of testerone pumped guys jumping from high rope swings and playing mud volley ball like the oh-so-camp scene from Top Gun! We had a 20 minute break from rowing here and so joined the action with a couple of boozy milkshakes whilst Rage Against the Machine boomed from the speakers adorning the bar. It was beyond surreal after our peaceful day and whilst I'm sure everyone was having lots of fun from our sober standpoint it was a little embarrassing to see the hordes of drunken Westerners. To a couple of loved up romantics it seemed a bit of a meat market and I was eager to get back to the quiet of the kayak.
After another hours drift we finshed one almighty day with a massive sense of achievement. All we wanted now was a good shower and bed. Just to add a little excitement to the evening LAura emerged from the bathroom and demanded I have a look at something. Hoing it was something kinky but sensing something more sinister I stumbled across a well fed giant bug on the toothbrush; she'd had a shower with a cockroach.
One good night's sleep and a french breakfast scoffed down later we caught the 9.30am bus to Vang Vieng. We'd previously been used to being the only foreigners on the bus but this time we were joined by a whole coach load of tourists eager for a slice of Laos amazing beauty and entertainment.
Three hours later we arrived and as the bus opened its doors we found out where the sun had been hiding! Stepping outside our shoes sizzled on the tarmac and our faces began to melt. Within a few minutes we found ourselves a huge room with ensuite for 50,000 kip (just over 3 pounds a night)-perfect if there were no rats!
We quickly left the hotel to see what Vang Vieng had to offer and as we walked down to the main streets it appeared a little like a ghost town, passing cafes and restaurants without a single soul other than the staff who would greet us with a huge smile. That's something we have loved in Laos, literally everyone is so welcoming, happy and complete with cheek to cheek grins.
About ten minutes from our hotel we stumbled across the amusingly titled 'bridge of death', though the children playing and diving around it undermined its title. As we watched them it seemed a perfect place to spend a childhood with this huge natural playground. The other end of the bridge bought us to the Sunset Bar, lined with hammocks overlooking the river. After getting our feet wet but not quite brave enough to venture further into the murky water we checked out the menu at the bar in search of cold drinks to pass the afternoon. The menu consisted of 'buckets' (large amounts of alcohol), and 'funny for you' drinks- ganja and mushroom shakes. At first I thought it was a joke as the drug laws in Laos are so strict- dealing leads to the death penalty- but then I noticed the signs advising not to smoke cannabis in the hammocks but to talk to a bar tender for further advise regarding a suitable venue! As it ws the afternoon and we were both quite content we opted for a simple Beer Laos instead!
As we curled up in our hammocks we could see why people would want to spend hours doing nothing here, but we soon found ourselves totally relaxed with no need for superficial highs. It couldn't get anymore perfect, the karst mountains raising above the horizon from the opposite bank of the staggering river and lush greenery all around, with the local children having heaps of fun making games with sand and rocks. Mothers were washing their children's hair and clothes in the water and the barman chose Air's 'Talkie Walkie' to sooth us in to a state of pure bliss. We spent a couple of hours just swinging gently watching the world go by.
As the bar started to get a little busier and our bellies started to rumble we made a move and found a restaurant full of low tables surrounded by cushions called Santana's, thankfully not dedicated to the widdling rock group. It was almost empty so we weren't too sure how good the food would be, but the cheap prices drew us in. Watching the smoke rise from the shielded kitchen we could hear our order being frshly prepared and out came a cabonara as good as my mum's with a milkshake so good we ordered another- banana and milo!
It gets dark so quick out here that when it's 8pm it feels a lot more like gone midnight and with our full days it inevitably leads to pathetically early nights. This was where we found our hotel's fault- it's right next to one of the loudest clubs in town! Lying in bed we could feel the walls and floor jumping in time with the kick drum, although after just a couple of songs this had some hjow soothed us to sleep!
The next day we woke and hurried ourselves along to meet a tour group for a days worth of activities. We drove about half an hour up the river for our first challenge, exploring the caves. In order to see them we first had to kayak across the fast flowing river. Most of the group had never done kayaking before, including myself, so we were given a brief tutorial by our awesome English speaking guide named Sang. There was ten of us in our small group anfd it was two per kayak, the person at the back providing the muscles. Laura naurally took the back seat much to the guide's amusement. He then pushed us into the river and for the first twenty seconds we were doing pretty well, but halfway out the current added to some bad steering decisions saw us head down the river and staright into a rock, much to our hilaious panic! We pushed away from it and ended facing the wrong direction, and steering against the current was near impossible, so we shamefully disembarked a fair few feet down the river in a bramble bush! Thankfully the couple to follow did a full reenactment to ease our embarrassment. It was far from lifethreatening but did make me wonder how we would cope with the rapids that would follow later in the day!
As we trekked towards the cave the sky suddenly darkened and the heavens opened. Within five seconds we were drenched in the monsoon rainstorm. It had been blazingly hot so the cool wtare was a relief until the pasth we were following turned into a flowing mudslick. Climbing up rockier paths into the jungle our flipflops were not up to the job, so we continued barefoot like proper jungle trekkers! Arriving at teh cave entrance we had to descend into the eerie black hole on steps covered in mud and utterly trecherous, but aftre a few careful minutes we were in the chmaber with just our headlamps for light. As we began to travel further in there was a sliding thud behind me. I turned to see Laura covered in mud from head to toe. It was damned hilarious, but as we carried on she discovered that she had got a large stone lodged in the ball of her foot causing a large chunk of skin to come away in a flap, which was collecting more gritted as we continued into the still slippery floor, but the huge chamber and amazig rock fromations were keeping us interested. As the guides called 'Be careful' every few seconds in voices designed to echo around the caves walls Laura's injury caused us to lag behind the group until suddenly we had no idea where they were! Thankfully a guide had stayed at the back of the group as we had read stories of tourists getting lost for days and even perihing in the caves vast networks! Nevertheless, we soon found the exit and breathed fresh air again.
The next cave seemed even more daring and was initially quite terrifying! We were exploring a deep, dark water cave on top a a floating inner tube, guiding ourselves along a piece of rope. After a few minutes we left our tyres and crawling on our bellies like cavemen into the depths of the cavern before wading through black water that submerged us to our hips. The guides joked about the snakes in the water whilst repeating their fasvourite 'Be careful!' line. Once again we had to commando crawl through another section, our noses touching the floor as we we made ourselves small enough to fit through- like he film 'The Descent' but without the gore! It anyone had stopped too long to think about what they were doing it would have easily enduced a panic attack, with no easy way out at this point. The guy infront of me looked to be having one of those moments appearing pretty agitated, but Laura and I had massive grins on our ridiculously muddy selves!
When we reached light again then rain returned in an intensely haevy storm. We huddled under the wooden roof and scoffed our luch before heading to the Elephant cave, a much less challenging adventure as the whole in the rock face simply holds a Buddha image and a rock formation which looks a bit like an elephant. It was time to return to Vang Vieng, but this time via the river which we were to kayak down for the next three hours! At points we hasd to negotiate rapids- nothing to difficult but enough to capsize a few members of the group. Somehow Laura and I had learned from our rubbish start and were tackling the waters damn well- getting ahuge buzz each time we completed a hairy section successfully. During the gentler moments we could stop rowing and let the river do the work whilst we sat back and enjoyed the magnificnet scenery. It was mountain peaks and jungle all the way, like a scene from Apocalpse Now, one of the most beautiful and peaceful places ever- until we were three quarters of the way through! Suddenly drum and bass was ripping through the jungle with hoards of testerone pumped guys jumping from high rope swings and playing mud volley ball like the oh-so-camp scene from Top Gun! We had a 20 minute break from rowing here and so joined the action with a couple of boozy milkshakes whilst Rage Against the Machine boomed from the speakers adorning the bar. It was beyond surreal after our peaceful day and whilst I'm sure everyone was having lots of fun from our sober standpoint it was a little embarrassing to see the hordes of drunken Westerners. To a couple of loved up romantics it seemed a bit of a meat market and I was eager to get back to the quiet of the kayak.
After another hours drift we finshed one almighty day with a massive sense of achievement. All we wanted now was a good shower and bed. Just to add a little excitement to the evening LAura emerged from the bathroom and demanded I have a look at something. Hoing it was something kinky but sensing something more sinister I stumbled across a well fed giant bug on the toothbrush; she'd had a shower with a cockroach.
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