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After a great time in Luang Prabang, I along with guy I had split a room with, headed south to Vang Vieng. We ended up taking a minivan and knew everybody in it, because they all had been on the slow boat. Seeing people I knew from the slow boat virtually everywhere was a trend that would continue all through Laos. As ever the journey was interesting, in that about halfway through we pulled off so the driver could check on a problem. One of the tires was wobbling and so the driver took the wheel apart to replace the ball bearings - not a repair I would normally make on the side of the roade in the mountains of Laos. As time progressed, the driver realized he didn't have the proper wrench and so flagged down a passing vehicle, and then another before getting the correct size wrench.

Floating Through Vang Vieng

Peter Wyant
2007-02-05 21:10:50

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After a great time in Luang Prabang, I along with guy I had split a room with, headed south to Vang Vieng. We ended up taking a minivan and knew everybody in it, because they all had been on the slow boat. Seeing people I knew from the slow boat virtually everywhere was a trend that would continue all through Laos. As ever the journey was interesting, in that about halfway through we pulled off so the driver could check on a problem. One of the tires was wobbling and so the driver took the wheel apart to replace the ball bearings - not a repair I would normally make on the side of the roade in the mountains of Laos. As time progressed, the driver realized he didn't have the proper wrench and so flagged down a passing vehicle, and then another before getting the correct size wrench. By the time all was said and done, we had a whole little party on the side of the road staring at the where the tire should be, about then I began pondering a 40 kilometer walk to Vang Vieng. After a time, the driver had the tire back on and it
held on for the first couple of bumps . . . and thankfully for the rest of the ride.

Vang Vieng turned out to be a laid back little town right on a river, mainly occupied by travelers. I split a room with the same guy and we found a bungalow right on the river, with a nice porch and a great view of the river, with mountains as a backdrop.

The first day I just relaxed a bit, something Vang Vieng is really good for, I didn't indulge, but all the restraunts play Friends, Simpsons or Family Guy DVDs. Each TV has legions of backpackers watching with dazed expressions. However, on the second day a group of us headed out to go tubing down the river. After the first bend in the river, we saw a number of little bamboo huts hanging precariously over the river, with zip lines, rope swings and diving boards hanging off of them, also with various beverages for sale. We floated from one establishment to the next jumping into the river from a variety of paraphanelia.

Soon enough, the day had slipped past and it started getting dark. As I headed for town I quickly realized I had started with two New Zealanders and a Welsh/Irish guy and was now with a bunch of Danes and a different New Zealander, and more worringly it was dark out. My new entourage and I pulled off and took a tuk-tuk back to town in the dark and went out for dinner. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable day of relaxing along the river.