It's definitely one of those places you could get stuck in, and in more ways than one. Darren and I didn't intend to spend a lot of time here, and yet we find ourselves almost rushing ourselves off to the next destination. We've definitely gotten comfortable here.
Vang Vieng, the infamous town for tubing down the bar laden river, has become somewhat tainted by the "falang" culture. It's unfortunate and, according to the locals we've spoken to, an undesired change in this once sleepy little village. However, a lot of people do profit from the craziness that goes on here. Without the "falangs" sure there would not be the endless noise, debauchery, or endless reruns of "Friends"; but neither would the bars, restaurants, tourist offices or street vendors exist either. So who knows. I didn't have the pleasure of experiencing Vang Vieng before the "falangs" so I can only judge the village's current state... and I must say, I quite like it.
Our first day we did nothing. The bus ride the night before was a bit of a bust, and it was hot and we thought we'd just be lazy. It was nice. Of course, "Go-Get'em-Andy" couldn't rest still for too long and spent the majority of our lazy day trying to convince us to go rock climbing with him bright and early at 9am the next morning. He has a way of making you feel a little bit guilty for "wasting" time and not "seizing the day". So we eventually caved in and opted for a day of physical effort.
The last, and only, time I went climbing I was probably about 12 years old on an indoor wall at the Crag for someone's birthday party. Since I have little to no recollection of what that was like I have always wanted to try proper climbing. I didn't not like it, but I didn't love it either. Now that I'm a few days from the experience, I can say that I enjoy'd myself. At the time, my response may have been a little different.
I came down with a bit of an upset stomach in the night and was feeling pretty tired and uncomfortable by the time we got to mountain face, and I was feeling pretty weak. That being said, regardless of whether or not I was sick, I still don't think I have the physical stamina for climbing. I also don't have the technique. Climbing is hard! It's a tough sport even when you're going pretty well, but the minute you get stuck and stop to try to find your holds or where to put you feet, you really start to feel it. Again, this is mostly because we weren't doing it properly; but, if it wasn't for Kong holding me up most of the time I don't think I would've successfully finished any of the climbs. Kong, our guide, was/is an amazing climber. Watching him crawl up those walls like a monkey is unreal. When I compare his climbs to ours it's just pathetic really. We (and by that I mean, I) probably looked like a poor, clumsy (enter name of creature who does not belong on a rock face), while Kong looked all skilled and graceful. Seriously a world of difference!
By the third or fourth climb, I was done. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and pass out. I got maybe 2 meters from the top and crapped out! Just below the top the rock face was pretty smooth. No more nice large edges and deep pockets to stand on and hold onto. I stood for a moment, searching, feeling my arms and my body shake, letting the panic creep in, and I forfeited. I told Kong to take me down, and despite the boys' persistent encouragement I wasn't going anywhere!
That night, I went to bed at 930 and slept for 12 hours!
The next morning, it was finally time to get to some tubing.
For many other travellers, tubing is a new and rare experience. For anyone who grew up in Canada or the west coast, you've probably done it before. Growing up, tubing down the river was a regular occurrence. So no, this wasn't my first time.
The two big differences between home and here however, are pink eye and bars. Apparently, a lot of people get pink eye (feces in the eyes) from the river. So far so good, but everyone has become a little paranoid I think. Certinaly, no one likes to think about it much either. But the bars! Oh the bars! The first three-quarters of the river is just lined with them. Even before you get into the water there are bars on either side of the starting point. It's crazy. Word of caution: intoxication and tubing = bad idea. A great money maker and a lot of fun, but hazardous! The bars do play fantastic music and it's nice to get out and dance, jump off a very high swing, and then get back in your tube just as the heat starts to stick and keep going until you hit the next bar. Tubing down the river was a blast. We did however, have a small incident (and this time Tanya it wasn't me!).
Our wonderful, enthusiastic friend Andy was a little too into the whole tubing and bar experience. Caution to the wind, he was literally jumping into his tube from the river bank. The first few times, this wasn't a problem, but it only took that one time and it became a problem. He jumped into his tube, not paying much attention to the giant rocks (limestone = sharp edges) sticking out of the shallow waters. He sliced open his elbow. We kept on floating and half way to the next stop his elbow was really bleeding. We got out and tried to patch him up with tissues and a "Bucket Bar" wrap but between the dehydration and blood loss, poor Andy hit the ground pretty hard! The guy working at the bar offered to take him to the tuktuk station by boat (we obviously weren't going to let him back in the water), and so he, Darren and Joe headed off to the hospital while Silvio and I floated down the rest of the river with our five tubes. The hospitals here have obviously seen their share of tubing accidents, but all I can pictures are expressions of "not another one" as Andy walked into the hospital with a red band with the words "Bucket Bar" on it tied around his wounded elbow!
Andy's fine. He got a few stitches and some antibiotics, and now he's got a river wound like everyone else. At least 1 out of 5 "falangs" that travel down that river are a testament to the hazardous combination of tubing and intoxication, but it's funny how the notion only becomes more popular. Andy even had elbow-injury company in the hospital in the form a blonde English girl.
So, no, this wasn't my first time tubing down a river, but tubing here is a whole different thing altogether. Especially since, in the rainy season (which it is now) it only takes about 1 hour to get down the river (even faster if it's recently rained, which it had), and it took us about 5 hours. If you do the math, you can easily see that you spend far more time dancing and tarzan swinging than you do tubing.
Well, with Andy stitched up, and our novelty tubing shirts, we're off to Vientienne tomorrow to organize our last month, in Vietnam.
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