Vang Vieng

 

For the first two days of our being in Vang Vieng, the rain never let up. To me, the rain and cloudiness only intensified the beauty of the surrounding mountain peaks. To make a long story short, I'll just say that the scenery here is a photographers dream, and I'll let the pictures do the talking.

After a few days of lazing around in lounge bars, alternating between watching old episodes of either "Friends" or "Family Guy", and drinking cheap beer, I woke up one morning to a sunny and nice day. The fog had lifted, rain clouds disappeared, and every one's moods changed. When I said we watched a lot of "Friends" and "Family Guy", I am referring to the fact that for some reason, every lounge bar plays the two shows over and over all day, everyday. We would go hang out in the big cushioned sitting areas, order a few drinks, and escape from the rain. If any of you reading this have been to Vang Vieng, you know exactly what I mean.

As soon as the weather permitted, we headed for the river to do what we've been hearing about all over South East Asia: Tubing the river. First stop was the Q bar, which can only be accessed by crossing a rickety bamboo bridge over the Mekong. Once there, people by the dozens are hanging out, playing drinking games, dancing and socializing, all on a big deck protruding out over the river. Also on the deck is a big tower that people climb and then zip line down to the water. Across the river and down stream some, other very similar bars can be seen, and in time, everyone at the Q bar migrates to the next joint down river, some by walking, most by floating in truck tire tubes. This process is repeated until there are no more bars to float to, then everyone gets tuk tuks home. The whole ordeal is background by an amazing view of the towering cliffs.