Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

This cannot be real!
I can’t believe that it is still happening!

Fifteen years ago when I crossed into China from Vietnam I was greeted by what was to become a familiar sight when staying in backpacking hostels, that being a bar/lounge full of travelers watching the TV series 'Friends’. When we arrived in Vang Vieng last night I was once again greeted by roadside bars/eateries all full and many with a big screen TV’s showing ‘Friends’.

Upon hearing the words ‘Tubing in Vang Vieng’, to most travelers it tells of drunken young backpackers, excessively partying at riverside bars drinking Happy Shakes while eating Happy Pizza to then throw themselves off rope swings into the water that at certain times of the year is far too shallow, most made it to the next bar but far too many didn’t.

Believe it or not, in 2011 there where twenty seven tubing related deaths and in 2012 there were between seven and twenty two, different sites offer different figures but no matter what those figures are that is easily one death a month for more than many years. Thankfully the Laos government stepped in and cleaned the mess up and the shonky riverside bars were dismantled, others had their ‘menus’ forcefully changed and tubing once again became about peacefully floating down the Nam Song River.

Today we decided to join the Tubers and Kayak down the Nam Song River.

We spent the morning visiting several caves and after lunch we grabbed our paddles and off we went. We made one stop at one of the several riverside bars left which I found to be thankfully rather tame when looking at the amount of Tubers dropping in and in the time we stayed I only saw two people with ‘buckets’, one of which was already pretty well on her way and from memory we were only at the second bar. Others around were consuming at a rather rapid pace but still having a good time. I counted quite a few bars after that so I am thinking many would have lost control of their tube by the end of the afternoon.   

As for the kayaking, it was well worth the day with a paddle in hand!
So what is Vang Vieng like?

It is beautiful and for those who have been reading my blog for all the many years I’ve been travelling China, simply think of Yangshuo yet I wouldn’t rate its beauty as equal as Yangshuo and its surroundings. Like Yangshuo it offers the more adventurous traveller a handful of outdoor activities such as cycling, trekking, kayaking, caving, rock climbing, rafting and of course Tubing.

From the Lonely Planet

Like a rural scene from an Oriental silk painting, Vang Vieng crouches low over the Nam Song with a backdrop of serene cliffs and a tapestry of vivid green paddy fields. Thanks to the iron fist of the Lao government finally making its presence felt in 2012 (when the river rave bars were finally closed down), the increasingly toxic party scene has been banished and the community is recalibrating itself as an outdoor paradise home with some achingly lovely boutique hotels and a raft of adrenalin-inducing and nature-based activities.

For the first time in years Western families and a more mature crowd are visiting (many en route to fabled Luang Prabang), stopping to kayak the Nam Song, go caving and climb the karsts. Relief pretty much describes the current feeling of Vang Vieng's inhabitants. It is mixed with a dose of anxiety as to how they are going to fill their empty guesthouses, for at its height 170,000 footfalls swept through the town on a yearly basis. Still, locals are glad that Vang Vieng is now untroubled by thumping music, disrespectful teens and the misconception that anything goes.

PS: If you are wondering why the girl in the photo is pointing up at the sign, it is because her name is Huang Ting and if you look at the sign they have left out the 'ing' in the word visiting....sooooo, VisiTING! Ha Ha Ha, oh well, it was funny at the time!

Beers N Noodles toya…..shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was by the TV show ‘Friends’
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