Vang Vieng

Where to start with Vang Vieng!!! Well it's certainly a party town!

We (the guys I met in Chiang Mai) arrived after a pleasant-ish minibus journey from Luang Prebang early afternoon and pretty easily found the hostel that had been recommend. That sort we headed out to see what there was to do. The answer seemed to be either drink or watch family guy...

The first full day, against all advice, we hired tubes and headed up to the river for some tubing (floating down the river in a large inner tube). Suffice to say we spent most the time in the bars using and the rope swings and little time actually tubing...
and yes I managed to injure myself with a glamourous belly flop from one of the rope swings. Injuring my ribs :o(
(I won't even go into the falling through a bridge incident...)

Having only tubed a quarter of the river on day 1, day 2 I rested my injuries by floating the whole way down the river with a couple of friends. Very chilled out.

Vang Vieng is entirely full of travellers in town for the party, some of which never leave!! The party gies on all day at the river and all night in town, so it's pretty hard going....

To get away from the party the next day a few of us hired scooters and went out and about visiting caves, lagoons all along the worst gravel roads I've ever seen!!

Having had more than enough of Vang Vieng we decided to head to Vientiane (Laos capital). There was a simple bus but also the option of kayaking. Not thinking of my ribs I booked this version. The morning we came to leave it was pissing it down with rain. It turned out kayaking was quite painful on the old ribs, so I didn't have much fun.

Now a day or two in Vientiane before my flight to Viatnam. I'll post an update then.