Hoi An

Hoi An is the tailor capital of Vietnam if not SE Asia. It is renowned as a place to get clothes made to fit whether its a dress for the girls or a suit for the guys. You can get pretty much anything made up for you but these are the pieces that the shops live off. On the bus from Hue I met a Scottish guy I had got chatting to on the Ha Long Bay tour, called Johnny so we stuck together in finding a hostel. We found a cheap dorm and soon were wandering around the town. Hoi An is a small town where the centre is a no go area for cars. This is because the buildings are protected by UNESCO and the streets are too narrow for that kind of traffic. Motorbikes and bicycles still have access though but mostly people walk around. On our wanders we saw a hell of a lot of tailors and later discovered there are more than 300 in the town. Almost every second shop is a tailor I really cant see how they make that much money. We also discovered in the 'eating and drinking area' there are some nice restaurants where you can get a glass of fresh beer for 4000vnd (1 euro=25000vnd). The town was quiet so most places are falling over themselves to get you in the doors and we found a nice spot for dinner that gave us a free drink and free dessert along with our meals. Then we bumped into one of the best PR people ive met in the form of a Vietnamese guy handing out flyers for a bar which promised a free whiskey on arrival and 2 for 1 afterwards. We were informed that there had been at least 200 people in the bar last night and he was working to replicate that. He didnt quite manage it but he did manage to find a few people I had met in Hue and bring them to the bar so we had a good night anyway.

The next day Johnny and myself paid a visit to one of the many tailors as he had designs on getting a hoody made up. He was heading for cooler climes next and had nothing for cold weather. I thought I might be tempted to get a shirt or two made up and I ended up getting fitted for a suit as well. They are pretty good salespeople in these shops so be careful! We bumped into Mitch and rented some bikes. On these we cycled to the nearby beach for the afternoon. The beach was really quiet as there weren’t many tourists in Hoi An at the time (its low season after all) and during the day the locals wont go near it for fear of getting a bit of sun. So we relaxed there for an hour or two and then around 4 the locals began to arrive. The ones that did were there in long sleeve tops and jeans and jumping in the water like that. But they did bring with them the mobile kitchens. These were basically stoves that set up all along the beach and dish out fresh seafood and rice. So we had a few beers and ordered food then watched it being cooked right there in front of us. It’s a hard life lounging on a beach for the better part of the day then having someone come to you and offer to cook some food for you! Afterwards we cycled back, showered and changed and went out. Another good meal and a few more drinks in our bar from last night rounded off the day well.

The 3 of us rise late the next day (what’s the rush?) and go to check on our clothes. It all looks fab but needs an adjustment or two so we arrange to get them tomorrow. Then a dutch guy called Bauka joins us for our journey to the beach and we introduce him to the wonderful beach kitchens. Him and Mitch are heading for Nha Trang that evening but me and Johnny hang around for our clothes the following morning. I get my suit and two shirts and he gets his hoody. I then head for the post office so I can send it home to Ireland and in total I spent less than 130 euros I reckon between the clothes themselves and the postage. Try finding that kind of deal in Ireland! I book my bus ticket for the following day also. That night was quiet since we had been a bit heavy handed the previous three and it was followed by another lazy day at the beach. Hoi An was more than I expected and it was great to just laze about on the beach, it really made it feel like a holiday. Next stop is party central in the form of Nha Trang where things promise to be a bit more hectic so I’ll be glad of the quiet times I think.

Hue

After arriving in Hanoi from Ha Long Bay I got a chance to have a quick shower and a bite to eat before I was on my next bus to Hue. This was an overnight bus and this was the cheapest way to do it. In fact I had bought an open bus ticket to get me all the way to Saigon stopping in the main tourist towns on the way. The bus was a sleeper bus which basically means it is a regular coach without seats but with beds instead. The beds are basically sun loungers and they are like bunk beds. You get space to stretch out provided you arent too tall. But me and the two canadians decided to get the seats at the back where there were two levels of five squashed together. Big mistake. We had assumed that everyone on the bus was everyone for the trip to Hue but we were mistaken. Instead of 3 of us over 5 seats we had the full complement. On top of this we were on the bottom bunk which we soon realised meant on top of the engine. Oh, and the air condition was about as effective as a person blowing on you while we were beside the wonderful smelling toilet. Sound good? Well this was an 18 hour bus journey. Got a good image of how comfortable we were? Arriving in Hue was a blessing and I was glad to get off after getting maybe 2 hours sleep. The other two were bound for Hoi An so I think they switched buses. They had no interest in Hue as most travellers dont give it ringing endorsements. It is styled as a cultural city full of history and it is full of history but what I found was of all this history there is little to physically see.

I stayed in a nice hostel called Hue backpackers which has a 'Club Hour' in the evenings where they dish out free beer to residents and they have a happy hour later in the night too. It was comfy and here I met Mitch and Rob who had been on the bus with me. We went out that night and bumped into a few other people like Jasper (dutch) and a pair of Aussies. We ended up drinking in a bar called 'Brown Eyes' mainly because they gave us 2 for 1 on cocktails. I did a tour of the town the next day and saw some of the historical sights. Perhaps if I knew more of the history they would have been more interesting but they were ok. Mostly it consisted of places where things used to be but were destroyed in the war or have been put to other uses since. It was the same the next day on a tour of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). This was a tour of an area where the border between Northern and Southern Vietnam used to exist. It was heavily bombed by the Americans and they also had some forward bases here to keep track of the movements of the North armies. The best part of it was the visit to a series of tunnels where a whole locality would hide when the American bombers came. They had everything they needed in these tunnels and for years they had to use them as a shelter from the war. Besides this there wasnt much to see on the tour. There was an area where a US outpost used to be on top of a big rock with a good view of the surrounding landscape. Now it is just a big rock. This was also the case with the other US base on the tour which has been retaken by locals for farming. These people do not want to remember the history of the war as for them it brings so much heartache and pain. The tour guide informed us of the importance of some of the areas we visited such as the Ho Chi Minh trail which was a secret path used to provide provisions to the rebels in South Vietnam. There are a lot of stories of struggle and hardship and the museum we visited offered stark reminders of this as well.

That was pretty much Hue in a nutshell. A place of history where the scars are still felt. The giant citadel in the city centre is still mostly demolished from bombs but is in the process of being restored. Im sure when it is finished it will be impressive but for now it is simply a sad reminder of war's effects on a country and its people. Next up is Hoi An which largely escaped the war so expect a slightly more upbeat post.

Ha Long Bay - more beautiful than the pictures

I am up at 7am to pack and get my free brekkie before jumping on a shuttle bus to Ha Long City. Once again I meet a familiar face. I met Jen on the slowboat from Laos and we had gone through that country at a similar pace though not together, then I met her again when getting the bus to Hanoi. I thought she was on her way south but she had booked onto the same tour as me with a friend of hers also called Jen and also Canadian. So a 3 and a half hour bus ride later we get to the harbour in Ha Long City and pretty swiftly we are on our junk boat. This would be our home for the night and we soon realised that we were on one of the posher tours. I had paid $88 for a 3-day tour to the bay and I was getting value for money. The room I was in was swanky and the dining area looked impressive too. But the food surpassed all expectations as we got an amazing lunch. The food remained pretty amazing for the duration of the trip and its been months since ive eaten that well over a few days. After lunch we all sat up on the top deck and stared open-mouthed at the breathtaking scenery we were drifting through. Its hard to describe in words or show in a picture how awe inspiring this area is but I assure you it is more impressive than any pictures you may have seen. Its an extremely beautiful area with thousands of massive, green encrusted limestone rock formations rising from the sea around us. The beauty of it didn't wear off over the 3 days but right then it had all of us on the boat mesmerised.

We carried on like this for a while, simply drifting past these giant rocks until we arrived at our first destination on the tour. It was a large cave on one of these islands. We landed here surrounded by other tour boats and flocked into the cave amidst a sea of tourists. The cave was pretty nice but I have seen a few already in my travels and they lose some of their appeal. There was one feature I liked about this one though and it was the ceiling. This was covered in rippling waves shaped by the water of the bay since the cave had been underwater for ages. It looked like a stone sea. After an hour here we moved on to do some kayaking. This was one thing that I was really looking forward to. I like kayaking at the best of times but to do it here in this setting had me excited. I grabbed a lifejacket and a paddle, hopped into a kayak and off I went to explore that little pocket of the bay. I loved being able to paddle around to my heart's content looking at various caves, the floating villages or just sitting peacefully in my kayak and gazing around me. By the way, people actually live in these little floating villages in Ha Long Bay. Can you imagine living in a house floating in a small bay? After about an hour I paddled back to where I had got the kayak and everyone got back on our junkboat. We got an excellent dinner which was followed by karaoke, which the Vietnamese staff took over when they realised none of us had any interest. The other option was to try your hand at fishing for shrimp but nobody had any luck. Not to worry though as 2 ladies in a small boat came along and sold a few cheap beers to us so I just sat up top and looked at the stars for a while. A pleasant way to spend an evening.

We get an early start the next day, refreshed from a good night's sleep and make for Cat Ba island. Here most of us got off as we were to spend a night here. Firstly though we go to a national park for a trek. We hiked up a small but steep mountain for an hour, and some parts were tricky enough, you almost had to climb up the rocks at points. Upon reaching the small and narrow summit we were greeted by an impressive view. There was also the option of climbing the 25m tall tower for a better one but I passed on that once some people told me it was missing steps at parts. We didn't stay long here as it was beginning to get cramped as more people arrived so we began to try and make our way down. I say try because when you have two streams of traffic on a path with room for one it makes for a slow passage. The further down we got the easier it got and the wider the path became so it wasn't too bad. Once all our tour group had come down we got on a bus to our hotels. A quick shower here (which was badly needed after climbing that mountain) followed by a quick lunch and we were off again to a place called Monkey Island. Guess where they get the name. This island is home to a small breed of monkeys that supposedly only lives there so they are pretty rare. The beach we landed on was nice and the monkeys soon came out of hiding to say hello. They aren't shy and anyone with food or drink in hand soon got their attention. We stayed here for a while (long enough to get burnt) and made our way back to Cat Ba and our hotels. Another fabulous meal and we have the evening to ourselves. Unfortunately there isn't much to do on this island so a few of us that had hung out during the day got some beers in one spot and shot the breeze for the night. An early night was on the cards after all our hard work during the day.

The last day of the tour saw us getting back on a junkboat and heading for Ha Long city again. On the boat journey we all took our last glimpses of the bay before being shuttled off to a restaurant for dinner. Afterwards we got on the bus back to Hanoi. So ends my trip to Ha Long Bay, one of the most beautiful places I am likely to visit in my life. It is an amazing sight to see firsthand and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to travel. Pictures don't do it justice, it has to be seen in the flesh so get your asses over here and visit one of the natural wonders of our world.

Hanoi

In Hanoi I ended up staying at a place called Kangaroo hotel in a triple room since the first place we were brought to turned out to be full. Myself and two English guys stayed here and it was nice but we were looking for a dorm because they are the best way to get talking to people. So we spent the entire next day in search of a place called "The Drift". They have posters up all over Laos so a lot of people knew the name and asked about it. The problem is that its a new hostel and its not in the same area as most of the other ones so very few people know where it is. Myself, Craig and Tom (all off the Laos bus) walked around Hanoi for ages. Its a pretty confusing place and we spent most of our time lost and trying not to get runover as we crossed roads. Hanoi is a big bustling city with mental traffic so not designed for walking around. However it wasnt a total waste of time as we did find the Irish bar and played some pool over a few pints. By the late afternoon we had given up on this hostel and made one last attempt to ask someone its location. Of course, this time we had success and managed to find the hostel and reserve rooms for the following night. Happy with our day's work (kind of) we had grub here and hung around for an hour or two. We then returned to our hotel with the intention of showering and changing before hitting the Irish bar for the football game. I got a skype call from home and said hi to the folks and happy birthday to my dad. So i got the second half of the game and had some craic with the lads. We even found a little spot later that sold 'Bia Hoi' which is basically homebrew but everyone seems to make it. Its sold for a pittance as well which suited us as we gulped a few glasses of it.

The next day we switch over to 'The Drift'. Upon arrival we meet the owner/manager (?), Tiff, and the two boys talk to her about buying motorbikes. They want to travel the length of Vietnam on bikes and she was full of info on the subject. I left them to it and scoped the place out. And what a place. For a backpacker place and dorms to boot it was pretty luxurious. The beds were big, we had aircon, the showers were great, there was a pool room, a movie room, a massage room, a good restaurant downstairs and free wifi. For the price we paid it was a bargain. Now after settling into our new home the three of us decided to upgrade from pedestrian to cyclist for a day wandering the city. As i mentioned traffic is a bit mental in Hanoi so this was quite the adventure. On three shitty bikes we proceeded to get lost and confused on the streets of Hanoi, going the wrong way up one way streets with motorbikes zipping past us and trying to cross roads that seemed to have an endless stream of heavy traffic. We survived though and felt better for the experience. Later that evening we played beer and bucket pong (dangerous) in the hostel before moving on to another bar called 'Hair of The Dog'.

The next day was a complete write-off. Most of the hostel was hungover, including the staff. The only thing of note i did on this day was watch some movies and book my trip to Halong Bay for the next day. This was one of the main places i wanted to visit upon coming to this part of the world so i was really geared up for this. It is one of the natural wonders of the world after all!

The bus from hell (vientiane to hanoi)

This was the cheapest way to get from Vientiane in Laos to Hanoi in Vietnam. Its a pretty long distance and took 24 hours. thats 24 hours... on a bus..... When i got my pickup to go to the bus i bumped into a familiar face: jen whom i had met on the slow boat into laos and had met in each place i had been since. She however had splashed the cash on the sleeper bus which was a good $20 more expensive than my A/C bus. Having forked out so much for the visa itself i was feeling the pinch so opted for the cheap option. I found my air-conditioned coach dropped my stuff on a seat and proceeded to wait another hour for the thing to leave. I turned out not to be the only cheapskate either as 4 other foreigners joined me on this bus. 7pm finally rolls around and we are off.... for ten whole minutes. Apparently buses need fuel, who'd have thought? This kind of set the tone for the next few hours as it consistently broke down. I had a Vietnamese guy crammed onto the seat next to me who didnt understand the concept of sitting. He had arms and legs all over the place and seemed to think the seat was a hammock or something. I just listened to music and tried to read my book. As well as the various breakdowns we also had some toilet stops and a food stop. A little bit later i took a valium as i was exhausted and unable to sleep. This knocked me out for a while and i remember waking up when we took off the following morning. We must have stopped somewhere for a few hours.

We arrived at the border at around 7am i think and this is where the fun and games really started. The bus just stopped in a queue of other vehicles. We were up on a mountain shrouded in fog and i was still groggy from my valium. Everybody gets off the bus and us foreigners just look bemusedly at them. Since nobody on the bus spoke english, nobody told us to get off or do anything. About a half hour later as im getting off to get some fresh air the driver just says 'Visa?' and points up the road. Not really knowing what this means i take a walk and discover that i have to sign out of Laos. I worked this out from the large crowd of people in a small room handing passports over a counter. I stood back to watch how the system worked and then copied what everyone else was doing. It being a saturday i was subjected to the dollar fine which is a big scam. I met Jen here as well a bit groggy as she had been woken up by her bus driver to get the visa done. She had taken valium and was the last person on the bus so she had to try and figure it all out while doped up. She was panicking as she was afraid her bus would go without her too but we got sorted. After finishing this i walk outside and get hailed by a guy in uniform who tells me to walk up the road in the fog. This i do quite warily as i dont know where my bus is and all of my stuff is on it. I stayed with the guys off my bus as i figured there was strength in numbers, we would all be in it together if things began to go sour. A few minutes walk in the fog later we arrive at another border post. All we had done at the last one was sign out of Laos, now we had to sign into Vietnam. The whole process started again, watching what everyone else did to work out what we needed to do. Another fine for it being a saturday (told you it was a scam). Then we realised we had to grab our stuff off the bus to put it through customs ourselves. SO i had to find the bus, cart my gear to the office again and put it through an x-ray. Satisfied i wasnt running guns into Vietnam they gave me the stamp and sent me on my way. This wasnt quite the end of it though as i had to get my new stamp checked. I also discovered the source of a noise that had been bugging me. It was a truckload of dogs, the same as you would see in ireland for sheep or cattle. They really do eat dog in Vietnam.

Off we go on our bus again and i would like to say the rest of the journey was uneventful but sadly i cant. Before i get into that though it has to be said that drivers in Vietnam make thai drivers look like wimps. I had thought driving in thailand was nuts but this took the biscuit. The only rules i could work out were that there were no rules. At times our bus would overtake a truck overtaking a motorbike overtaking a bicycle all in the face of heavy oncoming traffic....crazy. The horn is a valuable tool in this country as you use it every few minutes to inform whatever is infront of you or coming towards you to move out of your way. The big event of the day came when we stopped in a town and the guys starting taking bags off the bus. I only paid attention when i realised my bag was one of the ones going off. I chased after the guy and tried to get it back but they wanted to put all the foreigners into a minibus (and no doubt charge us for this pleasure) but we kicked up a fuss and they let us back on the main bus. I had heard of this scam and was determined not to get caught out. Finally we approach Hanoi and stop just before the bus station. Here a guy gets on and comes down to us at the back to inform us of his wonderful hostel. The only reason i gave this the time of day is that 2 of the guys had been recommended the one he was on about. So we followed him and got ourselves a bed for the night. It was good to be off the bus....

Vientiane

I've spent a few days in the capital of Laos now, Vientiane, primarily to arrange my visa for Vietnam. Otherwise i'm not sure i would have spent as long there. Its not a bad place but there is very little to do. It doesnt seem as reliant on tourism as Vang Vieng or Luang Prabang. Also the French influence is much more noticeable here than in other parts of Laos (a former french colony). It almost has the feel of a small European city with its little cafes and the giant boulevard that leads to a copy of the Arc De Triumphe. Yes they have an Arc De Triumphe in SE Asia. All that is missing is the Eiffel tower in the background! The journey here wasnt quite as bad as the trip to VV but that doesnt by any means make it comfortable. Laos roads arent the best so comfort on a journey of any distance is a fantasy. The coach itself looked like it had gone through a warzone recently with cracks in the glass sealed with tar. Im pretty sure the connection between the front and back wasnt the strongest either, the back wheels tended to bounce around a lot... Nevertheless i got to the city centre with nothing more than a sore arse. The first thing that happens when i jump off the bus is i hear my name being shouted across the street at me. This was John, a guy i met in Chiang Rai and had seen briefly in VV when he was running for a bus to here. I sat down with him and his mate Jack and shot the breeze for a bit. I then went and found a cheap hostel and ditched my bag before joining up with them again. It was Jack's birthday so they were going for a few beers to celebrate. Several beers later i wander back to my hostel at the curfew and meet a gang outside it all of whom are staying in the same place. Laos tries to impose a curfew of 11.30 on bars and the bars try to find ways around it. In VV they presumably have a deal with the police since they stay open till 5am. Anyway in Vientiane the curfew is more strictly observed. But i had a nightcap with this gang and we all hit the hay when the night porter threatened to lock us out.

The next day i rise early in order to get to the Vietnam embassy and get this visa thing underway. By the way Vietnam visa is expensive at $50! But i didnt have any problems getting it done, i went in with all the stuff i needed and they photocopied my passport and said to come back tomorrow for the stamp. Happy days :) I decide to treat myself to breakfast around now after taking some pics of the "Arc De Triumphe". Soon enough i bump into the guys i met outside my hostel who are planning to head to Buddha park for the day. Not having any plans myself i tag along. We got on the local bus despite the attentions of some tuk tuk drivers which proves to be a much, much cheaper option. Buddha park is a spot about an hour outside of Vientiane with a load of weird statues drawing inspiration from Buddhism and Hinduism all carved by a crazed Buddhist monk. The centrepiece of the area is a giant urn-like statue that you can climb up from the inside and sit on top. After wandering around the park for a while it was nice to sit up here and chill out. Some of the group were heading north that evening and a few others were doing it in the morning so those of us that were left had some food and beer that night and had a good laugh.

I rise early again in order to get to the embassy and get my visa which turns out to be a generous two weeks more than i need. At this hour there was nobody around so i decide to get a closer look at the A de T (or Patuxay as its known in Laos). Beside it is a big important looking building as well so i got some nice pics, especially since i could climb to the top of the Patuxay. This is swiftly followed by breakfast and a trip to the big temple in the heart of the city. It was a temple and ive seen my fair share of these so i was hardly blown away by it (its no white temple). I followed this up by getting my bus ticket to Hanoi for the following day (22 hour journey) and took it easy for the rest of the day. Tomorrow evening i catch that bus so i'll sign off here with my final thoughts on Laos. Its not as touristy as Thailand, travelling around it is a pain and the currency is annoying. Curiously it is a little more expensive than Thailand which i wasnt expecting. Besides all that its a nice place. The people are friendly without being too in your face and it is full of beautiful scenery. I enjoyed my time in Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng and Vientiane was a nice come-down from all the heavy drinking i did in those two. I didnt get to see the Plain of Jars or 4000 islands so there is still more of the country for me to explore if i come back to this part of the world. I think Laos will only get more touristy from here on in and may become a little like thailand. In a sense that is a pity as Laos has its own rugged charm just the way it is.

Vang Vieng - Tubing capital of the world

After a few days in Luang Prabang, myself and my 3 travel buddies decided to follow the crowd to Vang Vieng. This is a famous spot among backpackers as the place to go tubing in Laos. This entails getting in a tractor tire inner tube and floating down a river while drinking. But before i get to that i should mention the journey that took us to VV. We got VIP tickets which entitled us to a coach instead of a minibus. This was for a 5-6 hour journey which turned into an 8-9 hour journey really. The road takes you through some breathtaking mountains which were pretty to look at but uncomfortable to travel through. We were travelling on a narrow road that was winding its way up and down these mountains which meant switchback corners where you almost end up against the window or against the person beside you. Not nice. Also on one side you have a big cliff rising above you and on the other side is a cliff falling away. A mistake by the driver and we were over the edge because the road is pretty narrow and there is no barrier. But despite this we arrived in VV in one piece but exhausted. So we found a cheap hostel at which we met some people we had been on the slow boat with (Matt and Jen). We got some food, had a few beers and chilled out. Then a couple people decided to hit up the bars on the 'party island'. I declined as i wanted to save myself for the next day. A good night's rest before tubing the next day, sounds good right? If only it had panned out like that. Our hostel was quite close to this party island and being old and wooden was hardly soundproof. So i got to listen to the ridiculously loud music being blared from a group of bars until the wee hours of the morning when i gave up with the earplugs, mp3 and book and took a valium. I had bought these for the bus journey into Vietnam (24 hours) and this one knocked me out.

So not exactly the best start to my VV experience but after getting up the next day i was all geared up to try the tubing i had heard so much about. This, by the way, is not a cheap pastime. It cost 115,000 kip, a lot of money in Laos, to get the tube (roughly 10EUR) half of which is a deposit that you get back if you bring the tube back by 6pm. Considering everybody gets really drunk i'd say there are plenty of people missing out on their deposit. Anyway we got our tubes, got on a tuk-tuk and pretty soon had landed at the starting point for tubing. Upon arriving we saw a shallow, brown, slow-moving river and 4 bars. All the bars offer you a free shot on arrival of some random liquor with something dead fermenting in it (bees, snake, centipede etc). Then they take out their blue marker and draw stuff on you and give you a bandana with a random uncomplimentary slogan written on it. There are drinking games going on, everybody is having a good time which makes it a cool atmosphere to arrive into. We grabbed some beer and kind of took stock of our surroundings. It is one o clock in the day. There are also swings and jumps as well. Fresh from your 'courage in a can' you can climb to a platform and either jump, zipline or swing into the water. Ask where the rocks are though as its a bit dangerous. With my combined handicap of a fear of heights and not being the greatest swimmer i passed on this. Fun to watch though! We got in the tubes after a while and began floating down the river. This is really peaceful and i was quite content in my big rubber ring until a rope smacked me in the head. There are bars crammed onto both sides of the shore here and they all have someone at waters edge throwing out ropes and trying to lure people into their bar. We stayed floating for a little bit and pulled over at a bar where we got play mud volleyball and mud tug-o-war. This was basically falling over in the mud and turned into mudfighting at one point but was a good laugh. A few more drinks and we were off again to another bar, this one had a slide as its attraction. And attractive it was to Orlagh, Tom and Jenna who all went on it. This proved a painful but enjoyable experience for them and i laughed heartily at the awkward ways they landed on the water :) This is pretty much the tubing experience: drink, float, drink, drinking games, jump/slide/swing into the river, drink, float. We got to a place where we could get a tuk-tuk back to the tube station and considering it was almost 6 we took this opportunity to reclaim our deposits. We found out later that we got further down the river than the vast majority of people, some dont even get in their tubes. That night we went out to the party island and stumbled back late. I bumped into one of the guys off my teaching programme here. Didnt recognise him for ages though but thats because when i last saw Jon 6 months ago he didnt have long hair.

The following day was hot and we were all hungover so cue lounging around at the hostel in hammocks. We did diddly squat for the day bar eat, drink, talk and play card games. Shockingly i didnt need alcohol or valium to help me sleep that night, i was maybe getting used to the music. Tubing was on the agenda the next day again but this time we didnt even get in the water. We partied at the first few bars since you can just walk between some of them. It was at the first bar that i met another two teachers from the programme, again i didnt recognise them but again i hadnt seen either Katie or Sarah in 6 months. After catching up with them for a bit i stumbled back to the hostel with the others, had a shower, a bite to eat and went out again. We ended up pulling the plug on that one a bit early due to fatigue. The following morning i booked myself on a bus to Vientiane. Two of the group (Matt and Jen) did the same, we had all had our fill of VV. But my three travel buddies since getting on the slow boat were staying another day, supposedly to go on a motorbike trip to a lagoon but having seen how hungover Tom in particular was i had my doubts. We swapped emails and said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

All in all Vang Vieng is great fun but you need a of stamina to keep up the drinking. Some people get stuck here and end up working in the bars so it can be done. The town survives on the tubing experience but there are other options of things to do there. Its hard to go there and not go tubing though. I can at least say i went there and did it and survived unscathed (bar my liver maybe). I didnt get one of the t-shirts though, which it almost seems mandatory to do. Ive better things to spend my money on. Vientiane next, havent heard much good about it but surely it cant be all bad?

P.S. The photos are the view from the hostel, obviously i couldnt bring my camera tubing, that would have been stupid.