So...
After Luang Prabang, the boys and I took a bus down to Vang Vieng (anyone who's travelled knows this notorious place). Bumped into Team Alpha again here!
Basically, it's a very small town with one main strip of bars, but the main draw is the tubing in the river. The term "tubing", it transpires, means mainly drinking in bars positioned along the river banks; each equipped with their own haphazard means of re-entering the river to continue downstream.
There are very loud sound systems, and it's just a huge party. One rents the tubes (big rubber rings), or can do it without (which I did). Trouble is, there was a huge storm the night we arrived, so when we arrived at the river the next day it was a swelling torrent. The second we saw it we thought "this can't be right...it's going at like 40 mph". 2 of the 5 bars had been destroyed by the waters, the debris of which was still there. Still, after a couple of beers, the prospect of trapeze swinging and flipping 30 feet into the water seemed a lot safer. I almost drowned the second time I attempted it. When you jump in or float to the next bar, the employees throw a rope with a bottle attached, you grab on and they haul you ashore. People die quite often in this place...one of the bars has a waterslide to get back into the river; it's now called "death slide" following the unfortunate death of a girl on it a few months ago.
After spending 5 hours drinking, clambering in and out of the river, mud-fighting and painting eachothers' ruined bodies, I leapt into the muddy water to drift the 4km back to town. That was a truly amazing exerience on my own at twilight, although I got knocked about on the rocks quite a bit. The surrounding mountains were like nothing I've ever seen.
After Vang Vieng came the capital of Laos, Vientiane. 3 days of nondescript city. I parted with the London boys here.
Then Canadian Matt, Steph and I (Team Alpha core force) got a coach down to a place called 4 Thousand Islands at the southern-most tip of Laos, and spent 5 days cycling around the beautiful Islands and living in stilted huts. Much fun, but very chilled out...here I got to know Holly and Lizzie; two great girls who the next few weeks are to be spent with (I'm with them now in Hoi An, Vietnam). P.I.M.P.
So, on that note comes the end of my Laos experience. Next comes Cambodia, which I shall post later in the week - the land of beauty, ganja pizza, and genocidal atrocity.
