Tubing in Vang Vieng

After such an uncomfortable journey to Luang Prabang we decided to not subject ourselves to seven hours in a hot bus to Vang Vieng and treated ourselves to travel by the speedy minibus instead. Only $3 extra each and four hours of aircon comfort...brilliant. Our hopes of a comfy journey evaporated as quickly as the water in the radiator and within an hour we were parked at the side of the road with steam pouring out of the engine. Oh, the irony of the public bus passing us! We waited whilst a further nine minibuses pulled up to 'help' but to no avail. We were dispersed into the other buses and continued on eventually making it to Vang Vieng in eight hours. On arrival Beth headed straight for the toilet and proceeded to stay there for the next three days having had a relapse of the food posioning from Vientianne. There are few Doctors in Laos and serious medical conditions have to be flown to Thailand, que Dr.Brown. Diagnosing a case of giardiasis picked up from the raw meat and a reoccuring parasite, Dr.Brown prescribed appropriate anti-biotics and sleep (Beth slept for 17 hours straight).

Vang Vieng is a small dusty town but is rescued by the backdrop of mountains that hint at an unexplored world ripe for activities like mountain climbing, kayaking and rafting...all of which has helped Vang Vieng carve its niche on the backpacker trail. Unfortunately it has a reputation for drugs (inevitable because Laos is the third biggest producer of Opium in the world behind Myanmar and Afghanistan) but those who do feel the need to indulge are instantly sobered by the picturesque setting, best enjoyed lounging on the bamboo beds that line the river banks.

Although Beth had not been more that ten minutes from the toilet in days, she refused to miss out on the most famous activity of them all in Laos - tubing. Donning our bathing suits we floated down the river on huge tyres, lazily letting the current take us wherever it wanted under the warm rays of the sun. Fortunately for Beth, bums are the one part of the body constantly submerged and well, needs must etc (sorry, too much information). Steve swung on rope swings, jumped from bamboo boards and supped Beer Laos and we wondered whether anything could be more relaxing than tubing. Four hours later and slightly burnt, we climbed out of the river and headed for a drink and some food. It is easy to see that Vang Vieng caters for backpackers as all the restaurants have row after row of lounging seats to lie down and watch 'Friends' on the big screens whilst eating. Perfect for chilling (Steve) and recuperating (Beth).

Our journey back to Vientiane was long and hot on the public bus but it did exactly what it said on the tin and we arrived back in the capital with little fuss. Beth stayed in bed (honestly, Delhi belly and we're not even in India yet!) until we flew to Hong Kong the following morning leaving Laos with pledges to return and visit the south too one day.