Vang Vien

Oh dear- my challenge for the day. Trying to describe this most random collage of a place. A little ‘Thai island’ flare mixed with coma-inducing outdoor cafes playing ‘Friends’ and ‘Family Guy’ (looped 24/7), cheap knock-off shopping, bookshops, dirt roads, Christmas light signs, swinging bridges to get to the next bucket bar, and the most fantastic view to knock your socks off- when you arrive in the dark and wake up the next morning! Welcome to Vang Vien- a party person’s paradise. Anything goes. To be perfectly honest, we didn’t get the greatest impression of the place initially, still a little bitter about missing the early morning monks in Luang Prabang, and a very long and windy mini-bus ride down south. However, the picture-perfect view brought redemption the next morning.

The mountains here look like something out of a fairy tale- rocky limestone cliffs on tall slender mountains with lush greenery that could be in a rainforest. Reminiscent of those beautiful old Japanese paintings- but I’ll move on from my obsession with the beauty of the place.

We enjoyed eating our brekkies cross-legged, sipping on fresh fruit shakes along the river. Lucky for Britt- she was the only one still healthy as a horse at this point, and V & I had fallen to the stomach bugs famous in SE Asia, running to the toilet more often than is lady-like to discuss here. Lucky you, catching us in a lady-like hour.

We started out paying $1.50/night for our ‘luxurious’ accomadation here, and splurged on an upgrade for an additional $1.50 (CDN) to a river and mountain-view room, with windows from the floor to the ceiling and a balcony to watch the sunsets from.

And now for the 1-word reason travelers come from far and wide to visit Vang Vien: TUBING. The farthest thing from a Laos cultural experience- but a necessary experience nonetheless. You’re welcomed at Bar 1 with the colour-of-the-day wristband, this way everyone can tell if you’re a tubing ‘virgin’ or have been at it for days on end.

We had a blast swinging from zip-lines (flying foxes) that would spin you into oblivion on spring-loaded lines into the shallow waters below. Leaving us no time to think about it, our friend Johnny had V & I up on the first swing- Bar 1. Sooooo ridiculously fun! The platform is approx 10 meters up in the air, you grasp the hockey-taped handle and swing back & forth over the river (with a full audience @ Bar 1) until braving the fall to the river below. After building up bravery over a few days- I thought it wise to double up on the swing with a friend.

Choosing the wrong time to jump can prove to be a fatal mistake- I could hear the painfully sympathetic ‘ooooohs’ from underwater on Day 3 as I let go of the handle, and landed head first, smacking the side of my noggin’ on the water below. Ouch. Speaking of fatal, there’s definitely been some deaths on this river. And if you really want a vision of this place- I’m sure there’s heaps of U-tube videos for your viewing pleasure.

We strayed from the river crowd for a day to enjoy some wicked rock climbing with Green Discovery. The climbing was great, and ballooned our female egos as we out-climbed the boys. It’s all in the legs fellas- regardless of how much you insist on using that masculine upper body strength.

We had an awesome group that day, and the lucky lads had the privilege of watching V & I fall to our misery. Not from limestone rock walls. No, no- we thought it was a brilliant idea to double up in a hammock during lunch hour- and swing in it together until we splattered our bottoms onto the hard dirt floor below L. Ow…the tailbone was a killer for the next few weeks. War wounds from traveling adventures are often bittersweet though; so while I grimaced during rough Tuk-Tuk rides in the weeks to come, I smiled remembering Vang Vien, rock climbing, and the fun shenanigans along the crazy river. xoxoxo Dd.