Today I backtracked to Vang Vieng because I have at least five days until my passport will be back from the Myanmar Embassy and Vientiane is some serious kind of boring.
I got up bright and early on a rainy day to take the bus three or so hours north. I didn't however expect the luxurious bus that was our ride for the journey. The seats were plush, the driver was slow and steady, there was adequate room for all luggage and none of it was used as a jumping play toy for a toddler, yep, definetely not my bag.....The bus ride was long, dirty, rusty, wet and squished. I met a girl from Kenya on the bus and we exchanged surprised glances back and forth at every new event.
We arrived in the midst of a serious downpour. Dropped our bags at the first hotel with a room and took a look around the then sleepy town of Vang Vieng.
Vang Vieng's claim to fame is tubing. It is the place that backpacker's picked a few years ago to float down in rubber tubes while sipping on some beverages. The town has grown to accomodate those people. There are lots of cheap hostels, tv lounges showing friends all day and some good bars. I was shortly reunited with Glenda and Stuart from Luang Prabang and things were beginning to look up. We had a great night and my shitty mood from the horrible ride up was quickly adjusted when I realized that there were way more good times to come in Vang Vieng than sitting in Vientiane staring at my computer for five days, so the journey, while uncomfortable, was worth it.
Day two I woke up sick. Stupid cold. I had absolutely no energy and kept low key all day. It is no surprise that everyone else went tubing, but I was in no shape to do anything like that. I took an epic nap and just chilled.
Day three I felt a bit better and took off for the river. I think we hit almost all the bars. Each one seemed to have its own thing. One had a zip line swing. I partook. At another I played some mud volleyball, it was very slippery....And the final one had a slide. It was great fun and I can understand, just a tiny bit, why some people come here and stay for a year or so.....just a tiny bit.
I didn't really take any pictures, I was afraid of loosing/breaking my camera. I did take a few pictures of the cute little town as we took off for Vientiane.
My pregnant kitty friend… Looking like she was ready to pop I figured she could use an easy meal and I grabbed her a bit of milk before leaving Vang Vieng.
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