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I arrive up in Vang Vieng and all is seeming very similar from 6 months ago when I was here. That is until I step on to main street and the 1st thing that hits me is there are no open sewers!! There seems to be more and more cafes and less places playing Friends!! Woo Hoo!! Although there are still some dumb asses wasting their days by watching the crap. I get settled back into the Viengsavanh Guesthouse, this time I get a private balcony!! I head down to the river to see whats going on there. There has been so much building go on and there are very few travellers, just waster hippie kids getting wrecked loving the "little piece of Thailand" they've found in Laos. Truth is the place has lost its soul so the best thing to do is get out of the town and see what the surrounding area has to offer.

Paradise Lost

Gareth Penpraze
2007-04-21 19:43:02

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I arrive up in Vang Vieng and all is seeming very similar from 6 months ago when I was here. That is until I step on to main street and the 1st thing that hits me is there are no open sewers!! There seems to be more and more cafes and less places playing Friends!! Woo Hoo!! Although there are still some dumb asses wasting their days by watching the crap. I get settled back into the Viengsavanh Guesthouse, this time I get a private balcony!! I head down to the river to see whats going on there. There has been so much building go on and there are very few travellers, just waster hippie kids getting wrecked loving the "little piece of Thailand" they've found in Laos. Truth is the place has lost its soul so the best thing to do is get out of the town and see what the surrounding area has to offer.

Helen arrived up 2 days before and is staying at an organic farm outside the town, volunteering where help is needed. Although from the sounds of things the farm is so disorganised not much work actually happens!! I join her and the farming community for dinner in Saybaydee restaurant and it seems Helen has created a new curse!! It takes 2 1/2 hours for her veggie pie and chips (traditionally Laos meal) to arrive. I think Toby was taking the blame having ordered 2 meals for himself.

Next morning I meet Helen, Kate and John (aka in Asia, Wayne Rooney - Sorry John) for breakfast before setting off on some bikes for the day. We head out of town to explore some of the caves. The first one is sign posted 1/2 km off the road which turns out to be about 5 km before we get to a 1/2 km climb up a mountain. We cycle on to Phou kham cave where me and Phil went before, this time it was sunny though. The lagoon at the front more blue than Ibrox but a little less hun. We spend the afternoon messing about there before venturing up into the cave. We get about 100m in and we hear this voice further on, "Help, help!" We think it was someone having a laugh but we follow the voice and some German guy's torch batteries had died!! He was lucky we were there
cause we were virtually the last ones going into the cave.

Next day is tubing day - the right of passage for any backpacker in Vang Vieng. I meet Helen and we get our tubes and head back up to the farm. There's a lot more bars this time and a few more zip lines and swings. Last time I was too hung over to do any swings but I gave them a shot this time. Scary at first but good craic. We float on down but the river is so slow you have to paddle a lot. Rips the arms out of you, but the guns are bigger than Bournmouth now!! (well maybe not) We get back and head back up to the farm for some volunteering - I've to read a story to the locals in my broadest accent. The rest of the volunteers don't even understand what I'm saying!!

I spend most of the next day in my bed and get ready for the onward trip to Luang Prabang. Was quality doing something different in Vang Vieng this time other than just getting wrecked and the farmers were great craic.

Gareth Penpraze
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/ASBO-Holidays/