Vang Vieng - Pass the Bucket

Beware bus stations! Getting to Vang Vieng was easy. But if you wish to be taken from that bus station, prepare to part with some cash for a ride on an utterly crap tuktuk. I could have pushed it faster!

Vang Vieng is famous for tubing. The process of getting plastered at various bars dotted along the fast flowing river Nam Song. Your chariot being a tractor inner tube.

Tubing is great fun. The lonely planet describes it as a right of passage on the Indochina backpackers trail, giving you some idea as to the sort of activity involved. Alcohol, flying foxes, alcohol, 40 foot swings into the water, alcohol, 40 foot slippery slides, alcohol, free shots, mud volleyball, bucket cocktails, mud tug-o-war, alcohol (Tash's fear of heights precluded her from alot of activities). People lose their belongings and their etiquette in the process.





Although tubing is definitely the most visible activity, it does the stunning surrounding countryside a disservice. Vang Vieng is nestled in amongst limestone cliffs that play host to many caves and waterholes. We stayed on the little island in the river, with an uninterrupted view of the landscape.




We pedaled out to Tham Phu Kham cave, a sweat drenching 7km ride out of town. A bronze reclining Buddha resides in theis cave steeped in Lao folklore. A great, deep, blue water swimming hole outside provided the prefect means of cooling off.



But pissed backpackers can be a little trying, so we move on to the capital, Vientiane.