Vang Vieng

Seeing as Alex has written every entry I thought I would add some comments on our last few days. The journey down to Vang Vieng from Luang Probanh was not for the faint hearted, it was 5 hours of twists and turns through the mountains with plenty of big drops on the side of the road. Luckily our minibus driver did not see himself as the next Nigel Mansell and was a relatively slow driver by SE Asia standards so we arrived safely. The scenery was amazing and we drove past a few Laos villages which was interesting to see the locals going about their day.

On arrival we checked out a few budget places as we thought it was time to start slumming it more. After the few we checked out had not hit standard we clambered up a river bank to find ourselves by a nice hotel swimming pool to the amusement of the guests. We expected to be escorted off site by security but managed to get ourselves to the reception and with some negotiation secured a lovely room with views of the river and mountain backdrop for next to nothing. So yet again we are living it up with aircon, fridge, balcony, swimming pool etc.

Vang Vieng seems to be a major stop on the route through Laos as there are loads of traveler's here and we have met a lot of like minded people, although some we have avoided like the plague. Alex particularly enjoyed yesterday when we hung out with 3 young Swedish guys for the day and went tubing down the river. Maybe we will meet some young Swedish girls soon too!

Tubing involved sitting in a tractor inner tube and floating down the river stopping at riverside bars on the way which were pounding out mostly good music. A lot of Beer Laos was consumed and I enjoyed throwing myself off wooden towers on swings into the river, Alex was just a spectator as you might have guessed.

There is a lot to see here, tomorrow we are hiring bikes and off to the Blue Lagoon and will check out some caves.

4 weeks of not working now, Life is sweet!!!!