On our way to Luang Prabang in Laos we had a two day stopover in Vang Vieng, a backpacker party town. Tubing down the Nom Song River is a very popular attraction for the younger crowd. For only $7 a tuk tuk takes you 4 km up the river and provides you with an inner tube (life jacket optional) which you then use to drift back to town.......well not quite. From the starting point, the riverside is filled with bars, playing very loud raggae, hip hop, classic rock and other popular music (but no Frank Sinatra). Beyond cheap drinks on the decks of the bars there are water slides and rope swings, along with regular swings and teeter totters in the river and mud volleyball on the beach. There are Happy Menu's and I'm sure many more things that we didn't see. With no river police and 'travellers' allowed on the tubes, it was party central.
Knowing ahead of time what to expect, and hearing that 22 partiers drowned in the river last year, we chose the more 'boring' full-day Cave and Kayak tour which ended up being a private tour when no one else signed up that day. Our guide led us through a Hmong minority village and then 4 km's to 3 incredible caves. The first cave had many twists and turns with some narrow passageways leading into large caverns. Our half hour inside only covered a portion of the several km's that could be explored. The second cave seemed more like the tunnel they are attempting to build for the Trans-Canada near Golden, B.C. It went straight into the mountain and for the half kilometre we walked it was 5-10 metres wide and 10-20 metres high with a plethora of stalagmites and stalactites. Rhonda is not fond of caves but she did very well underground getting as far as we did (we could have gone much further if we had wanted). A good set of headlamps and having the caves to ourselves was helpful. The third cave was quite different, being a water cave. We floated into (and back out of) the cave on tubes and were able to go several hundred metres into the cave. Following a BBQ lunch we were provided with a kayak to cover the 8 km's back to town, following our guide through small sets of rapids. When we encountered the bar scene half way back our guide gave us the option to stop for drinks but it looked like they were having a very good time without us so we just enjoyed the music and watched some acrobatic river jumping while slowly paddling past the entertainment.
Prior to arriving in Vang Vieng we spent our last day in Vientiane cycling to their Victory Monument (Arc de Triomph replica) and to the large, golden Pha That Luang temple about 5 km's from the city. We also stopped into the COPE Centre where they are doing tremendous work with land-mine victims fitting them with new legs and arms. It is a non-profit organization and we were happy to make a donation after touring the facility. It had an upbeat mood (patients and staff) since they are really giving life back to young people who would otherwise not be able to afford treatment. The sad part is the realization that there are many millions of UneXploded Ordnances (UXO) still buried in their country; and many people (mostly children) are being injured every month by a discovery.
Yesterday we took a bus ride from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang where we are right now. It was a long (7 hours) but rewarding drive through the mountains. The road had lots of switchbacks, and was rough at times, but the views were magnificent. We passed through several small villages perched on the ridge of a mountain where there only seemed to be enough room for the road. If there was a minor tremor I'm sure that most of the stilted homes / huts we saw would end up at the bottom of the deep valley. Fortunately, I had some leftover French chardonnay to sip and enjoy the journey while Rhonda was immersed in her Kindle trying not to notice the deep canyons below.
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