In my last blog I complained about the journey to Luang Prabang. However I feel I must give the driver of that horrible bus some credit. When I traveled to Vang Vieng by minibus in daylight I could see what a state the roads were in. They were very windy, often with steep drops, there were hundreds of potholes, several land slides and a few areas where the road had actually given way and slid down the hill. So even though the bus ride was bad, the driver did a pretty good job to get us there safely through a lightening storm during the night.

The journey to Vang Vieng was a bit long winded. I was supposed to leave at 8am and get there at 1pm, but it was about 3.30pm by the time we arrived. Traveling by day did however give me a chance to enjoy the landscapes. Laos is very hilly, green and lush. Much like northern Thailand and most of Vietnam. The countryside is littered with rivers and limestone cliffs. It is very pretty.

Vang Vieng is a small town based on the Nam Song and is famous for tubing and other outdoor recreation. Tubing is when a you sit on a rubber ring or tube and float down the river stopping off at various bars and cafes along the way. It is very popular with backpackers as you can imagine.

The town isn`t very nice though. It is very tacky, and only there for the tourists. The best thing about it and possibly the worst thing is that there are loads of restaurants that play Friends reruns 24/7. On arrival I kicked back on a huge sofa, ordered some food and watch several episodes. It was heaven!

That evening I booked a trip for the next day. I wanted to go white water rafting but they didn`t do it. I wasn`t really up for the whole “tubing experience” so I opted for mixture of kayaking and caving.

The following morning I was woken by the sound of heavy rain. I had heard about how the Nam Song can flood and can be quite dangerous and how a few tourists had drowned in recent years. So I went to check with the tour operator if the trip was still on. They told me they didn`t know and that they were going to wait a while until they confirmed it. They said if the river rises too much it can be too dangerous for kayaking and also make some of the caves inaccessible.

As Vang Vieng was my last stop before going back to Bangkok to fly home and that I had only intended to spend 2 nights there I decided to cancel the trip and head back to Thailand. I didn`t want to have to spend a day sat in the town waiting for the rain to stop so I managed to get a mini bus to Vientiane.

Also because of the trouble in Thailand I didn`t want to get stuck in Bangkok or Vientiane waiting for my flight out. Apparently there has been a lot of protests and calls for the Prime Minister to resign. Many government buildings have been taken over by protesters, some airports were closed and train lines stopped running. I thought it was best to get moving.

On the way to Vientiane the weather picked up and it probably would have been a nice day for kayaking, but who knows what the river was like. In the bus, talking to other travelers I found out that the Thai/Laos border had been closed because of the chaos. So I went straight to the airport.

I booked a flight with Laos Airlines on one of their planes with propellers and one of the worst safety records in history! After checking in I wanted to use the Internet and found that I could in the airport lounge for the price of $6. I thought this was a bit steep but it also included free food and drink! So for my $6 I got a good half hour or so on the Internet, 3 beer Laos, 3 slices of pizza, a doughnut and a slice of carrot cake, not bad! I limited myself to only 3 slices of pizza as I was the only one in the lounge and had to get one of the ladies working there to heat them up for me each time and I felt bad interrupting them while they were watching their favourite soap operas on the big screen!

It was a shame that I didn`t get to go on the kayaking trip but to be honest I dint think it was anything I hadn`t already done on this trip and it was already second choice to white water rafting. I think it would have been better to have stayed in Vang Vieng with friends and spent a few days trekking and kayaking etc. On reflection I am happy that I left because I didn`t want to get stuck at the border, I don`t think I have missed out on anything and I was ready to go home!

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