vang vieng, laos

I never knew about Vang Vieng until we came to Asia. It's one of those places that no one knows about unless you are a backpacker. As soon as we landed in Vietnam, everyone we met told us about tubing and this place, so we decided to come to Laos instead of Burma. The locals basically give you a tube, and tuk tuk you down the river about 10 km away, and then let you into the water. Along the way, you paddle yourself over to the riverside bars that have swing ropes, cheap mojitos, and unlimited Beerlao.

I took a shot of this tequila with fermented bees. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted. The ladies were walking around with a communal cup, and I couldn't resist the challenge. Thank god it was just a tiny shot! And then they sent us off in our tubes down this slide!!! We stopped at every bar down the river!!

Helen is our temporary roomie in Laos. She's from Britain and super fun. We met up with a bunch of other backpackers from Holland, Britain, Scotland, and Belgium for the day. We tubed down together, got separated, and then met up later at another bar.

Tien braved the swing rope!!! She was the only girl to swing back and drop.
All the other girls belly flopped like crazy!


I was being lazy on a hammock, enjoying the majestic mountains surrounding me




overflowing with tubes

The river locals are the sweetest people. They are incredibly quick in lassoing the tubers coming down the river. The British and Aussies have gotten quite good at lassoing themselves after watching the locals do it.

Some of the little boys will wait for you at the end of the river, and will hold your tube hostage until you pay them something. A little boy no more than 10 years old asked me for money after he literally hauled me against the current, but I was satisfied with giving him 1000 kip for the effort.

The last 2 km stretch, we just floated down the river. It started to rain but I was brave enough to pull my camera out of the waterproof bag to snap a couple pics before the rain set in.

Dinner at a restaurant next to our hotel. It overlook the river, and is stunning.
You can see the mountains in the background.