Day 84: (5 August 2011):
- Walk to bus station by Post Office & get on local bus for Vang Vieng. Old bus, city-bus style seats. Swivel fans on roof. Put bags in back seat, which was eventually buried in produce.
- Walk to bus station by post office & get on local bus for Vang Vieng. Old bus, city-bus style seats. Swivel fans of roof. Put bags in back seat, which was eventually buried in produce.
- 4-5 hrs. Some wind[e]y roads. Cool limestone karst landscape in closish distance.
- Random toilet stop in bush/field. Hope they don’t always stop there, else it would be gross to go there.
- Arrive at random roadside stop in Vang Vieng. Wait out rain.
- Limestone karst mountain backdrop.
- Sun & hot. Cross runway where there is less water, but difficulty reaching street on other side.
- Pretty dirty/mouldy dorm room (they out of 2ppl room). Take a room each at 40k each. Private bathroom (although not very clean).
- Switch rooms as i wanted the TV (poor picture, but kept me company). Very big bed, but dusty & lots of stains (blood / paint?). Stuff on bathroom floor, poop stains on toilet. Sink drains on floor, so i didn’t use sink, as there was a tap on wall. Tall ceilings. Kind of gross, but setelled in. See tip of a mountain from window, not too exciting.
- Tasty 10k noodles for lunch. Shakes here only 5k. Generally cheaper.
- Decide to go tubing. Raining, but will get wet anyway. A bit relieved I’ll get this over with soon.
- I bring minimal stuff. Felix bring camera & passport.
- Rent dry bag & took lifejackets. Not sure what’s in river, mention of rapids in LP. 3hr trip in dry season, now 1hr.
- Everyone in tuktuk excited & mostly chatty.
- Loud music at site. Immediately see 5 bars, full of people in swim gear, drinking & dancing. I was only Asian we saw.
- Boat across. Celebratory 1st large beer can. More ridiculous than imagined. Beautiful limestone cliffs shrouded in cloud, peaceful river & forms around. Pumping music, drunk people jumping in water, beer/liquor pong, etc. Ridiculous. Lao & communist flag. Joke this is what Communism is always like, what did Felix think in the US? Really surreal.
- Float to bar with huge slide. Pretty ghetto. Red nail polish smily face on hand is ticket. Half-filled water bottles thrown to pull us in.
- Have to buy to go on slide, so large beer each, as out of small beer. Sliders retrieved by floating ring. Funny water spray at end of slide. Go only once. Thinking of going again, didn’t for some reason. Should have gone head first as most were doing. Turns out this is the “slide of death.”
- Jump in river backwards, with tube. Impaled on the long metal air refilling pipe. Not too painful. Tip from people: don’t be the last to leave, as will run out of tubes. Tubes just get piled up & just grab one when leaving.
- See “last bar” sign, which was not true as expected, but decided not to take the risk. Play lots of Bob Marley. Funny unfolding of “one bucket one joint” sign out in front. Other bars have people on boards “surfing” river to catch tubers.
- Quiet bar, the other couple from Sav tuktuk there. Random mud pool, which Felix kept slipping in when take pic.
- Disgusting toilet. Couple say a sign say can pee anywhere.
- Decide go for one bucket one joint deal after a beer each. Give a joint for each of us. Felix tried to light the wrong end.
- Felix start to get out of control at this point.
- Bucket surprisingly strong. Felix see 5-6 shots.
- Lots of people arrive: many with body paint. Sad we missed that bar, but in retrospect, this is probably a good thing.
- Play with slingshot just by mud pool: humourously dangerous.
- People hosing each other.
- Big mud wrestling thing start, I only on fringes. Had some role in dragging a girl in? Don’t remember exactly how that happened.
- Felix bought another bucket: more joints. I only had a bit, Felix gave some to others, but he had too much of it.
- Thinking of staying due to condition, but Felix walk & slip to water with some others, and we were off.
- Mud in eye.
- Note: a jumping platform (?) that was closed. Didn’t see the supposed multi-story swing/zip line. Maybe closed in wet season?
- Felix keep lying down in river. I keep talking to Felix to make sure he not passed out. Hear him retching at some point. Hope I don’t get wash from that.
- Ask directions from other tubes. Getting dark. Nice scene with dark cliff silhouettes. One tuber claims we passed Vang Vieng, he’s going to Vientiane. Asked a group who knew exactly where to go. Left at fork, stop at bridge. Heard rumours taking wrong fork leads to rapids & bad things.
- Tuktuk drivers waiting at clearings offering rides. Ignored due to sign saying 2km to end of tubing. Some others took the offer.
- Followed directions with no issue, especially since can still see the party ahead. Completely dark now. Made sure Felix made it.
- Some people held us out then gave flyer advertising a bar.
- Walk back, some people overhear & direct us. “Hey Felix, did you puke back there?” “Yup.” Apparently he says he puked all over his life jacket.
- Realise how out of it Felix was when he asked for my help getting things out of the dry sack. Puddle of muddy water inside. “ooh...” reaction from person (woman) we are returning it to. Everything wet. Felix’s camera broke. My wallet smell bad next few days (and never really recover) & grew mouldy. Money smell bad.
- 1 hr to rest at GH before dinner. Wash clothes. Felix passed out, & not wake with some knocks, but see he turned out his lights between some of my knocks, so think he OK. I go have dinner.
- 10k dragonfruit shake, 15k laap, 10k papaya salad. Delicious. So delicious because of the joint?
- Chill party/hang out places a block down from hostel.
- Sleep. (Finally).
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