Vang Vieng, Laos

We had another long bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. The road was consistently curvy, and the buses air shocks made for a bouncy ride through the mountains. Amazingly, only two people threw up (including the bus driver's helper). Sarah took a motion sickness tablet before we left -- a very smart thing to do, in my opinion. Later we talked to someone who had taken the double-decker "VIP" bus on the same route, and he said almost everyone on board threw up! See? Sometimes it pays not to go on the expensive bus. =)

The bungalows, Vang Vieng, Laos

Our porch, Vang Vieng, Laos

Sarah and I have mixed feelings about Vang Vieng. The surroundings are beautiful, but it's definitely on the "must-do" list for any young, party-hearty backpacker in the region. The town itself is kind of sad and dumpy. We splurged a little ($10/night) and stayed just out of town in a bungalow on the bank of the Nam Song River. The views were stunning, and our porch was the perfect place to sit and enjoy scene -- a muddy, big river flowing by and towering limestone ridges in every direction. This location made what could have been a crappy stop in a drinking town into a special couple days for us. We stayed out of town as much as possible, and enjoyed the stunning scenery outside of town; towering limestone cliffs, forest, and rice paddies. The residents of the town weren't as friendly and forthcoming as most people we've met in Laos, and from the way the backpackers who come through act, it's easy to see why. That doesn't mean they don't want to profit from them, though.

Here's the scene: Travellers come here to go "tubing" on the river, which involves renting a tube, being driven upriver a few kilometers, then floating back to town. The short trip takes at least a couple hours, because along the way there are riverside bars that throw ropes out and drag in the tubers (that's a funny name for them... tubers). After a Beerlao or two, they get back on their tubes and continue downstream to the next bar. Imagine doing this for 10 or 12 bars in a row. Now add in rope swings over the river, "happy shakes" (made with the finest marijuana and occasionally opium), and a large numbers of other tubers, and you get an idea of the scene. There were foreigners stumbling around town after their tubing that could hardly stand up. I realize this is many peoples' idea of a good time, but in a conservative, quiet society like the Lao, I can't help but think it's a little pathetic. After tubing, people go to the various restaurants around town and lie in long booths and watch endless reruns of "Friends" (literally) while they quench their post-"happy shake" munchies with food. If I was a local, I'd be a little jaded, too.

All this being said, Sarah and I had a wonderful time at our riverside get-away. We enjoyed several amazing monsoonal showers from the safety of the resort's patio and walked the back roads to several neat caves with Buddha statues in them. One area turned out to be good for birding, so I added Mustached Barbet, Black-naped Monarch, Striated Swallow, Shikra, Fork-tailed Swift, Plain Flowerpecker, etc to my list. The hills around town are riddled with caves where the local people famously hid from raiding Yunnan Chinese in the 1800's. Many of these are open to the public to visit.

Bridge across the Nam Song River, Vang Vieng, Laos

A sawngthaew (I call them sag wagons) -- one of the weirdest vehicles ever

A wat in town, Vang Vieng, Laos

This morning we hopped on an early bus out of town, and are now in Vientiane, the most relaxed capital city it the world. More on this location tomorrow! I'll also try and get some photos added to these posts, as well.

-Matt!