After we crossed the boarder we were so releived to be in Vietnam and got back on our bus who drove us 5 minutes up the way to drop us in a minivan which will take us to Dong Ha- now we have already given them our ticket and they wont give it back so we just figured it was all sorted. There was Tom and I and 6 locals who all insisted we all squished in the front, we got to Dong Ha and had to for out another 15 dollars the bastards ( always always keep a reciept, which we have done upto this point, go figure the one time)
Where two men on motorbikes took us and our giant bags down the road where we had to pay another 15 dollars each to get a local bus ( you can pay 15 dollars and get a luxurious bus) but our options at the time were limited and jumped on a packed bus- Tom and I the only foreigners and we were celebrities. People always wanted to talk to us but our conversations were vague through our phrase books and we just smile and laugh when they do. They could be saying anything but it was a really good time. We got picked up at 11 am and the bus was to take 12 hours to Hanoi city. Well low and behold we wake up at 2am, the ONLY people on the bus except for a Vietnamese couple, all the lights turned out and in the middle of a deserted street, which turned out to be 40 km outside of Hanoi city. It was completely pitch black- our flashlight battery was running out so we had to turn it on every 30 seconds to point to words in our phrase book to figure out where the hell we were.
We were shitting ourselves. We were panicking and both very worried. We put our faith in this couple who somehow after 3 hours of pointing at words in the phrasebook she said 2 hours and a bus will come, so we waited and about 4am the OLDEST bus I have ever seen pulls up and all of a sudden there are a load of people, stuffing there motorbikes on the bus and coming on with very large baskets- After pondering what they were for a second, as they seemed to be jiggling very strangely the people with the baskets began to hang raw beef all around our heads and everywhere on the bus, soon the bus was packed with Tom and I squished between a motorbike, pounds of raw meat and people looking at us curiosly. A lady got on the bus and handed me a bag of her raw plucked headless chickens. This was a wonderful bus ride.
What was a scary experience was also the best of our lives.
We took a taxi to Hanoi backpackers hostel (thankgoodness for you Jack for giving us the card with the map) and checked in at 5am.
WE ARE IN HANOI!!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Oh what a Journey!
How many journeys have we all taken in our lives? Good journeys, bad journeys, crazy, silly, wonderous, journeys. All get us to where we are today!
The good ones we never want to end and the bad ones we can never see an end coming.
Well I tell you, you may have heard of us complain about our previous journeys but the bus's that have taken us from the South of Laos upto North Vietnam were something else.
To begin, this whole trip we have been going from East to West to North to South to just to go back North again, so the beginning of our 40 hour bus ride started off in Paxce Laos (South) to travel all the up to Hanoi (North Vietnam)
So we got on a local bus that went from Paxce to the border of Vietnam and then onto Dong Ha where we were to catch a second local bus upto Vietnam, this bus had about 10 seats- 7 Vietnamiese, Tom, another foreigner and I. It started off wonderous, how cool is this experience? The bus was filled with cigarette smoke and had insence burning the entire ride. We sat at the front so we had leg room to stretch out and sleep as this was an overnight bus leaving at 7pm and should arrive in Dong Ha early the next morning.
Well we woke up on some street outside of shop in the middle of the pitch black with men coming on the bus asking to take our passports so he can stamp them- now we just woke up, were still foggy, its still late and dark, and scary men are wanting to take our passports! What the F*ck? We have crossed a few boarders now in our time and decided to wait untill we got to the boarder and have an official stamp our passports. 2 Hours later we were still parked, its still dark maybe 6am in which we barely slept a wink and another man came on the bus saying the same thing, this time holding about 16 Vietnamise passports and said this is how they did it, we also had to give him 20000 kip.The other foreginer who was on the bus with us as well said he would give it to him, we were still skeptical- surely this isnt procedure, is it? WHY ISNT THIS IN THE LONELY PLANET ANYWHERE? So he said he will go with the guy who is taking our passports to see what happens- I was sick to my stomach, hoping to no ends he would come back than instant, thankfully no sooner than it took me to walk on the bus and walk off again he was back with a large grin and told us very happy news.
The border is 2 minutes away and he took our passports straight to the window to be stamped and we pick them up from the same man who took them. Thank you for delivering what could be some of the best news possibly ever.
So the bus starts moving- drives us two minutes down the road to drop us off at the Lao Bao border where you have to walk about 10 minutes to get to a desk that scans your forehead, and then stand in another line to have your passport stamped? woah woah- isnt that what we just did? Okay, dont panic I now have my passport in my hand with a stamp its all okay. So we waited in two different lines just to get someone sitting behind a large glass window to take your passport, look at it for about 20 minutes as if they didnt beleive you are who it says before they let you through. We also needed to pay another 10000 Kip for them to stamp us and hopefully our journey across the boarder is finished, only to hope and pray our bus comes through with all our bags. Fingers crossed - we waited about ten minutes before we seen it pull into view, thank you, thank you thank you. In Vietnam. After the weirdest boarder crossing in all the land?
Wait untill you hear about the second journey- its a doozy but we are catching a bus down to Hue in about 40 minutes so will update you there.
Love and miss you all XO
The good ones we never want to end and the bad ones we can never see an end coming.
Well I tell you, you may have heard of us complain about our previous journeys but the bus's that have taken us from the South of Laos upto North Vietnam were something else.
To begin, this whole trip we have been going from East to West to North to South to just to go back North again, so the beginning of our 40 hour bus ride started off in Paxce Laos (South) to travel all the up to Hanoi (North Vietnam)
So we got on a local bus that went from Paxce to the border of Vietnam and then onto Dong Ha where we were to catch a second local bus upto Vietnam, this bus had about 10 seats- 7 Vietnamiese, Tom, another foreigner and I. It started off wonderous, how cool is this experience? The bus was filled with cigarette smoke and had insence burning the entire ride. We sat at the front so we had leg room to stretch out and sleep as this was an overnight bus leaving at 7pm and should arrive in Dong Ha early the next morning.
Well we woke up on some street outside of shop in the middle of the pitch black with men coming on the bus asking to take our passports so he can stamp them- now we just woke up, were still foggy, its still late and dark, and scary men are wanting to take our passports! What the F*ck? We have crossed a few boarders now in our time and decided to wait untill we got to the boarder and have an official stamp our passports. 2 Hours later we were still parked, its still dark maybe 6am in which we barely slept a wink and another man came on the bus saying the same thing, this time holding about 16 Vietnamise passports and said this is how they did it, we also had to give him 20000 kip.The other foreginer who was on the bus with us as well said he would give it to him, we were still skeptical- surely this isnt procedure, is it? WHY ISNT THIS IN THE LONELY PLANET ANYWHERE? So he said he will go with the guy who is taking our passports to see what happens- I was sick to my stomach, hoping to no ends he would come back than instant, thankfully no sooner than it took me to walk on the bus and walk off again he was back with a large grin and told us very happy news.
The border is 2 minutes away and he took our passports straight to the window to be stamped and we pick them up from the same man who took them. Thank you for delivering what could be some of the best news possibly ever.
So the bus starts moving- drives us two minutes down the road to drop us off at the Lao Bao border where you have to walk about 10 minutes to get to a desk that scans your forehead, and then stand in another line to have your passport stamped? woah woah- isnt that what we just did? Okay, dont panic I now have my passport in my hand with a stamp its all okay. So we waited in two different lines just to get someone sitting behind a large glass window to take your passport, look at it for about 20 minutes as if they didnt beleive you are who it says before they let you through. We also needed to pay another 10000 Kip for them to stamp us and hopefully our journey across the boarder is finished, only to hope and pray our bus comes through with all our bags. Fingers crossed - we waited about ten minutes before we seen it pull into view, thank you, thank you thank you. In Vietnam. After the weirdest boarder crossing in all the land?
Wait untill you hear about the second journey- its a doozy but we are catching a bus down to Hue in about 40 minutes so will update you there.
Love and miss you all XO
Friday, October 7, 2011
Vientiane to 4000 islands
Now all the way through Northern Laos, Kelsey and I wanted to get down to 4000 islands. It is the very edge of Laos, and meets Cambodia by a waterfall. Have a look!
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelblogs/1076/57742/Don+Det+and+the+4000+Islands,+Laos?destId=356944
We'd been told about 4000 islands by a few people on the way, Jack and Kulvin being the main ones (original Jack not Laos Jack!) and we'd heard it was a great place to chill out, relax and generally just put our feet up again.
It's a collection of islands (as the name suggests) and in fact there are only 4000 when its the height of the dry season, and every sandbank is visible. We came just towards the end of monsoon season, so there was only about 100! But it was cool to see the tops of trees appear into view day by day.
We arrived after the long-ass journey from Vientiane, which Kelsey has hopefully written about before this entry (we're simulataneously blogging and she's refusing to do anymore...) and after we'd dragged Jack here with promises of sunbathing, fishing and tropical islands, we arrived into the rain and a little rickety boat took us the final mile to Don Det. I felt bad. I was the main one harping on and on about it, but in fairness lonely planet decieved me. It was the one who put the descriptions into my head, the ones that i may have embelished slightly, but none-the-less we were expecting a little more sunshine.
But this turn of events actually worked to our favour.
Let me start by saying we adored Don Det. It was the edge of the world, where no-one can touch you, and you've got no way of communicating with the outside world. From teh moment you wake up you're surrounded by wildlife. Whether it be the buffalo grazing below your window, massive butterflies landing on the end of your table, or kittens running up and down the path, you cant escape the feeling that you aren't in a city anymore and it's so hard not to get carried away with the whole vibe of the place. Which we did wholeheartedly.
The islands is split into 2 main drags, the sunrise and sunset side (for obvious reasons) and they are connected by a small path running through the middle of the islands, surrounded by rice fields. Now, the island is only 14km in perimeter, so everything is only ever a 5 minute walk away.
We stayed in a place for the first night for 20,000 kip ($2.50!) which was a little bungalow with a balcony, all on the river, on the the sunset side. Then again for the second and third nights, at the Happy bungalows. Man were the guys who owned that place hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
On teh second night we met a Brazilian couple called Chiago and Mari. They were cooler than cool. Life loving, samba dancing, moment drinking stereotypes, and we had a blast just being around them.
They were staying at a place called 'Mr Nois That Bang Bungalows' which was closed to the public but because they'd been there 4 times before (well Chi had- probably with a few different ladies... the fox) they family who ran it had opened a bungalow on the river just for them. We decided that if it was ok with the family we would get the bungalow next door to them (now on the sunrise side) and as it happened our luck was in.
We spent the next few days having adventures. Swimming across the Mekong to an uninhabited island, wandering the length and breadth of the island to see the French colonial bridge, playing with the children, doing flips off from other bars, fishing with borrowed rods (and homemade bamboo ones!) and generally just having fun!
Not forgetting the casual throwing ourselves off the balcony into the Mekong to cool off every hour (or whenever necessary)
The river is also where we took our showers, our hygeiene habbits were quite poor here as we washed ourselves in dirt orange water but it was amazing and who cares?
The evenings were slightly different. The balcony was lit up by a solitary red bulb and we had a whole PA stack from the restuarant, which meant our own music all the time!! (Well Chi and Mari's ridiculously cool music, i couldve listened to it all night, every night). We all had individual hammocks (which were huge) a big bench and chairs, and a table in the middle.
We passed the nights in smoke, listening to the Brazillian themed music, in the red light and cool river nights. Oh yeah and eating the massive and fantastic portions that the family's Mama was cooking us and delivering to the balcony. Drinking far too many 'Beer Lao' and Lao Lao (the homebrewed whisky, which really knocks your socks off) All in all it was heaven. And without meaning to, we had been there 8 days. And had loved every second of it.
It's often said that it's the people that make moments good, but in this case it was the people, the place, the food, the atmosphere that made it unbelievable.
Oh and i cant forget the coffee, thick as mud, made with fresh Laos coffee beans, mixed with condensed milk. Sweet as you like and chased away the hangovers... which seem to be a recurring theme with this holiday.
We then booked a bus to Vientiane, as we had to get our Vietnamese visas sorted out before heading to our next country. But after having booked it found that there was in fact a Vietnamese embassy in Paxce (the closest town to the 4000 islands - still 4 hours away) and successfully changed our tickets, meaning we didnt have to go back to Vientiane, thus dodging another 14 hour bus journey, we could spend a day somewhere new, and we'd saved a lot of money and all was right with the world!
Bring on Vietnam!
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelblogs/1076/57742/Don+Det+and+the+4000+Islands,+Laos?destId=356944
We'd been told about 4000 islands by a few people on the way, Jack and Kulvin being the main ones (original Jack not Laos Jack!) and we'd heard it was a great place to chill out, relax and generally just put our feet up again.
It's a collection of islands (as the name suggests) and in fact there are only 4000 when its the height of the dry season, and every sandbank is visible. We came just towards the end of monsoon season, so there was only about 100! But it was cool to see the tops of trees appear into view day by day.
We arrived after the long-ass journey from Vientiane, which Kelsey has hopefully written about before this entry (we're simulataneously blogging and she's refusing to do anymore...) and after we'd dragged Jack here with promises of sunbathing, fishing and tropical islands, we arrived into the rain and a little rickety boat took us the final mile to Don Det. I felt bad. I was the main one harping on and on about it, but in fairness lonely planet decieved me. It was the one who put the descriptions into my head, the ones that i may have embelished slightly, but none-the-less we were expecting a little more sunshine.
But this turn of events actually worked to our favour.
Let me start by saying we adored Don Det. It was the edge of the world, where no-one can touch you, and you've got no way of communicating with the outside world. From teh moment you wake up you're surrounded by wildlife. Whether it be the buffalo grazing below your window, massive butterflies landing on the end of your table, or kittens running up and down the path, you cant escape the feeling that you aren't in a city anymore and it's so hard not to get carried away with the whole vibe of the place. Which we did wholeheartedly.
The islands is split into 2 main drags, the sunrise and sunset side (for obvious reasons) and they are connected by a small path running through the middle of the islands, surrounded by rice fields. Now, the island is only 14km in perimeter, so everything is only ever a 5 minute walk away.
We stayed in a place for the first night for 20,000 kip ($2.50!) which was a little bungalow with a balcony, all on the river, on the the sunset side. Then again for the second and third nights, at the Happy bungalows. Man were the guys who owned that place hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
On teh second night we met a Brazilian couple called Chiago and Mari. They were cooler than cool. Life loving, samba dancing, moment drinking stereotypes, and we had a blast just being around them.
They were staying at a place called 'Mr Nois That Bang Bungalows' which was closed to the public but because they'd been there 4 times before (well Chi had- probably with a few different ladies... the fox) they family who ran it had opened a bungalow on the river just for them. We decided that if it was ok with the family we would get the bungalow next door to them (now on the sunrise side) and as it happened our luck was in.
We spent the next few days having adventures. Swimming across the Mekong to an uninhabited island, wandering the length and breadth of the island to see the French colonial bridge, playing with the children, doing flips off from other bars, fishing with borrowed rods (and homemade bamboo ones!) and generally just having fun!
Not forgetting the casual throwing ourselves off the balcony into the Mekong to cool off every hour (or whenever necessary)
The river is also where we took our showers, our hygeiene habbits were quite poor here as we washed ourselves in dirt orange water but it was amazing and who cares?
The evenings were slightly different. The balcony was lit up by a solitary red bulb and we had a whole PA stack from the restuarant, which meant our own music all the time!! (Well Chi and Mari's ridiculously cool music, i couldve listened to it all night, every night). We all had individual hammocks (which were huge) a big bench and chairs, and a table in the middle.
We passed the nights in smoke, listening to the Brazillian themed music, in the red light and cool river nights. Oh yeah and eating the massive and fantastic portions that the family's Mama was cooking us and delivering to the balcony. Drinking far too many 'Beer Lao' and Lao Lao (the homebrewed whisky, which really knocks your socks off) All in all it was heaven. And without meaning to, we had been there 8 days. And had loved every second of it.
It's often said that it's the people that make moments good, but in this case it was the people, the place, the food, the atmosphere that made it unbelievable.
Oh and i cant forget the coffee, thick as mud, made with fresh Laos coffee beans, mixed with condensed milk. Sweet as you like and chased away the hangovers... which seem to be a recurring theme with this holiday.
We then booked a bus to Vientiane, as we had to get our Vietnamese visas sorted out before heading to our next country. But after having booked it found that there was in fact a Vietnamese embassy in Paxce (the closest town to the 4000 islands - still 4 hours away) and successfully changed our tickets, meaning we didnt have to go back to Vientiane, thus dodging another 14 hour bus journey, we could spend a day somewhere new, and we'd saved a lot of money and all was right with the world!
Bring on Vietnam!
Luang Phabang
On the road again.
Hello everyone, It seems we have fallen much behind in the blogging, which makes things difficult as unless we write everyday we forget of little things to tell you. For instance we are in Vietnam at the moment in Hanoi Backpackers and are still writing about tubing which was 3 weeks ago. We are frantically chipping away at it and will try and step up our game. I guess the things you don't read about here- will have to be told at home ( although I am sure we will talk your ear off anyway and you may say ya ya--- but we will).
So back to the blog ( 3 weeks ago)
After Vang Vieng we packed back into a mini bus and embarked on what would be one hell of a long and high drive. We sat in the back, knees upto the armpits- no air let alone any oxygen to breathe in this van and we were going up a mountain. Now this was beautiful, but one minute were driving down straight flat land and then ascending into the very tops of a mountain range- we were above the clouds- now there is no barriers and the drivers here are a little loopy, passing on corners and going up hills so on top of being high up, our nerves and breath seemed to be a little air hungry but it was beautiful and we passed through a number of villages, its amazing to see the way they live. Kids everywhere, some with shoes, some without, looking at you like you are an alien through a glass window. It is amazing.
We all came together, Nico, Sebastien, Jack, Tom and I and two Laos girls at the front of the mini bus who played atrocious music out of their cell phones. ( This seems to be normal in Laos as most people we have journeyed with tend to do this)_--- even on an overnight sleeper bus. Bastards. No not really they are very very lovely people, just WHY?
So we got to the bus station- which are always ten miles out of town requiring you to be desperate and allowing the tuk tuk drivers to charge you whatever the want to bring you to a guesthouse. We negiotiated and negotiated and got it down as low as possible and went and stayed at (this is where the forgetting comes in) - I forget the name but it was okay.
We stayed two nights- walked around the town which is very quiet and much nicer paced and quiet than the party town of Vang Vieng, good resting time. We also took a tuk tuk about an hour outside of town to visit a very mad rushing waterfall which was beautiful. It had swimming holes at the bottom and a rope swing which dropped you into the small part of the falls. It was a lovely walk, because this was going to be our last night we went to watch football (on behalf of Tom and Jack of course) and played pool at a local bar.
Laos is a very relaxing country, something as soon as you enter just tells you to slow right down- this may be because of the early curfew- government states everyone should be in their registered places by midnight meaning all bars close by 11 30. Now the bar where we were playing pool at closed except Tom and Jack were playing pool with a local so we got to stay in and enjoy some Laos line dancing- quite simple but great fun and great experience.
Being this our last night together (Jack Tom and I were planning on some relaxing time while Nico and Sebastien were staying North to Trek) we werent ready for bed, but what to do?
We heard of a place, a special place you can go after 11 30 or midnight, you just need to ask the tuk tuk driver to take you- so we all piled in and headed out to the middle of nowhere to the bowling alley. Yes, a bowling alley- a proper one, ten pins, old school music, so smokey you can barely see and horrendous toilets. It was such a laugh.
The next morning the group said our goodbyes and Tom, Jack and I went our seperate way to Nico and Seb to make the what would be two day journey all the way down South to 4000 islands.
Tom -
We spent the next day in Vientiane, traipsing around markets, going back and forth to the police station (to get an incident number for Jacks insurance company - blackout buckets in Vang Vieng) and generally jsut relaxing as and when we could. We had an overnight bus with beds on (touch!) so went for a shared slap up meal to fill our bellies to help the attempt to sleep.
The first leg was 14 hours and to be honest it wasnt too bad at all. The beds were comfy, they fed you well, and the music (FOR ONCE) was quiet. We all got some sleep and woke up to pass the remaining few hours in a book, or on Championship Manager on my ipod (god i love that game on buses). All in all pretty effortless.
The next few hours were a little worse, back into a minivan for the 3 hour drive to Paxce, but nothing that we hadnt done before, finally a boat to Don Det.
By this time time we were done with boats, buses and the lot and just wanted to chill.
Luckily we'd just reached the end of the world, and there was not much to do but chill. And man would we.
Hello everyone, It seems we have fallen much behind in the blogging, which makes things difficult as unless we write everyday we forget of little things to tell you. For instance we are in Vietnam at the moment in Hanoi Backpackers and are still writing about tubing which was 3 weeks ago. We are frantically chipping away at it and will try and step up our game. I guess the things you don't read about here- will have to be told at home ( although I am sure we will talk your ear off anyway and you may say ya ya--- but we will).
So back to the blog ( 3 weeks ago)
After Vang Vieng we packed back into a mini bus and embarked on what would be one hell of a long and high drive. We sat in the back, knees upto the armpits- no air let alone any oxygen to breathe in this van and we were going up a mountain. Now this was beautiful, but one minute were driving down straight flat land and then ascending into the very tops of a mountain range- we were above the clouds- now there is no barriers and the drivers here are a little loopy, passing on corners and going up hills so on top of being high up, our nerves and breath seemed to be a little air hungry but it was beautiful and we passed through a number of villages, its amazing to see the way they live. Kids everywhere, some with shoes, some without, looking at you like you are an alien through a glass window. It is amazing.
We all came together, Nico, Sebastien, Jack, Tom and I and two Laos girls at the front of the mini bus who played atrocious music out of their cell phones. ( This seems to be normal in Laos as most people we have journeyed with tend to do this)_--- even on an overnight sleeper bus. Bastards. No not really they are very very lovely people, just WHY?
So we got to the bus station- which are always ten miles out of town requiring you to be desperate and allowing the tuk tuk drivers to charge you whatever the want to bring you to a guesthouse. We negiotiated and negotiated and got it down as low as possible and went and stayed at (this is where the forgetting comes in) - I forget the name but it was okay.
We stayed two nights- walked around the town which is very quiet and much nicer paced and quiet than the party town of Vang Vieng, good resting time. We also took a tuk tuk about an hour outside of town to visit a very mad rushing waterfall which was beautiful. It had swimming holes at the bottom and a rope swing which dropped you into the small part of the falls. It was a lovely walk, because this was going to be our last night we went to watch football (on behalf of Tom and Jack of course) and played pool at a local bar.
Laos is a very relaxing country, something as soon as you enter just tells you to slow right down- this may be because of the early curfew- government states everyone should be in their registered places by midnight meaning all bars close by 11 30. Now the bar where we were playing pool at closed except Tom and Jack were playing pool with a local so we got to stay in and enjoy some Laos line dancing- quite simple but great fun and great experience.
Being this our last night together (Jack Tom and I were planning on some relaxing time while Nico and Sebastien were staying North to Trek) we werent ready for bed, but what to do?
We heard of a place, a special place you can go after 11 30 or midnight, you just need to ask the tuk tuk driver to take you- so we all piled in and headed out to the middle of nowhere to the bowling alley. Yes, a bowling alley- a proper one, ten pins, old school music, so smokey you can barely see and horrendous toilets. It was such a laugh.
The next morning the group said our goodbyes and Tom, Jack and I went our seperate way to Nico and Seb to make the what would be two day journey all the way down South to 4000 islands.
Tom -
We spent the next day in Vientiane, traipsing around markets, going back and forth to the police station (to get an incident number for Jacks insurance company - blackout buckets in Vang Vieng) and generally jsut relaxing as and when we could. We had an overnight bus with beds on (touch!) so went for a shared slap up meal to fill our bellies to help the attempt to sleep.
The first leg was 14 hours and to be honest it wasnt too bad at all. The beds were comfy, they fed you well, and the music (FOR ONCE) was quiet. We all got some sleep and woke up to pass the remaining few hours in a book, or on Championship Manager on my ipod (god i love that game on buses). All in all pretty effortless.
The next few hours were a little worse, back into a minivan for the 3 hour drive to Paxce, but nothing that we hadnt done before, finally a boat to Don Det.
By this time time we were done with boats, buses and the lot and just wanted to chill.
Luckily we'd just reached the end of the world, and there was not much to do but chill. And man would we.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Vang Vieng- Tubing
Tubing Tubing Tubing.
After a long cramped mini bus ride a whole 7 hours to Vang Vieng we met Jack, Nico and Sebastien ( who convinced us driving a motorbike through Vietnam is a good thing to do and this is what we spoke of the whole 7 hours) while going over the worst roads in the world (Laos not Vietnam!). We arrived to find our guesthouse and went out to give Jack (the bucket virgin) his first taste of strong mixed spirit, who knows what percent Sangsom whisky, redbull and coke, all mixed together nicely in a sand bucket- that you have heard of before.
Now all us pro's knowing how it is going to effect us knowing not to bring any valuables, things you can take out and lose quite easily... poor Jack somehow managed to lose his phone, camera and wallet, and also managed to get in morning (daylight) when everyone else got in early morning (still night fall). Ouch, the next morning he woke up HANGING. Such a trooper though, for this day was the day we were to TUBE. DUN DUN DUN!!!
Tubing- an inner ring of a tractor tire, a large floating device in which you sit in, float leisurely down the Mekong River. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong ( The worlds 10th largest river) while Laos men are shooting pepsi bottles filled with water attached to long strings to pull you against the fast moving current into their bar.
Now earlier I said leisurely, I would say it is anything but. Every 5 meters there is another bar with exciting activities like a bucket hanging on a string in the middle of the river and you have crawl our on the wire rope, to reach the bucket and come all the way back to get a free bucket, Tom didnt quite understand, tried to bring the bucket back. He made it there but fell in half way back but got us a free bucket!
Massive water slides (with a 20 foot drop the other side!)-- which was AWESOME, card games and drinking games galore.
I'm not sure if you can tell from this, but by the 3rd bar we were pretty drunk, yet thinking and wondering how anyone can get hurt by doing this ( we have heard horror stories) but as long as you keep your wits about you, can swim easy peasy. Then it got dark. More dun dun dun's.
For some reason we went past THE LAST BAR as the man said we can tube all the way back to Vang Vieng, okay, trust a local, yes, but this isnt the same - the river bends and fast moving rapids (Probably not) but the water began to move much faster, it was pitch black with no bars around and we all lost sight of one another.
I think we all had a moment of sheer panic, trying to get to the side was impossible, I was alone and quite frightened at this point, I even imagined crocodiles were coming to get me in the water. I finally met a girl along the way who has been tubing the last 5 days and had also lost her friends EVERYTIME, and kept telling my whole panicky self that it happens. Well shit no it should NOT happen- especially five times in a row you silly so and so. Shouldnt you have some wits? Maybe not go after dark? This was our lesson.
I climbed out of the water as soon as the water slowed down to climb up a steep mountain with a rickety old ladder made of twigs. At this point I am the only one, screaming for Tom, and everyone to keep floating until they can see the ladder, I dont think they heard a thing- but finally Nico showed up missing Sebastien and we panicked together. ( I think me more than him). Eventually Sebastien showed, then Jack and 20 minutes later to be my most happiest moment I heard Tom who eventually came into my very wonderful sight. Relief.
Tom's account of tubing..............................................
So! All was well in the world of tubing, we were swinging off rope swings, playing drinking games, climbing on wires (should've listened to the damn rules!) and generally having a good time.
As you can read from Kels' account above, tubing was a great laugh.
Right up until the last half hour.
Now we werent drunk drunk by the time the end came, but we'd heard from a few reliable sources that you can float back into town only 10 minutes later and trying to save money, we lost a bit of sense.
The others raced around a bend ahead, through no fault of their own, but the piece of river that i was on was moving a bit slower. In hindsight i was a little too close to the edge, but nothing prepared me for what was about to happen....
As i turned the corner my tube got snagged on an overturned tree and to my horror i was flipped upside down, in the dark, and the undercurrent pulled me to the tree's centre. I was underwater for about a minute all in all but it felt like a bloody eternity.
I could see my tube above me caught on the tree, so i kept on swimming and swimming, trying to reach the surface. After about 30 seconds of this futile effort (i got nowhere and everytime i stopped i was dragged back to the centre) I told myself that this was NOT how i was going out, drunk under a tree on holiday.
I'd never seen Blink live, i'd never watched West Ham win a league, all in all i just dug a little deeper, and hand over hand i pulled myself up and around towards the surface. Branch by branch.
I got to the top and air. Sweet bloody air. (i wouldve traded it for a cigarette but air would have to do!)
I grabbed my tube and swam 30 foot to the closest bank. I was in the middle of nowhere.
I could hear Kelsey literally screaming my name (we all know how she loves a panic) and tried to shout back but she couldnt hear me. I walked on the bank to catch my breath and thought to myself i can either get in a Tuk-Tuk now, or i can get back in the goddamned river and go to her. So i got back in the tube.
By this time i could hear where the group was, Jack was guiding me in by voice as i couldnt see a thing. I reached the group and walked to Tuk-Tuk where i promptly collapsed and waited 10 minutes before saying anything.
Apart from a slight hitch towards the end, the day was fantastic and now we had a story to tell and beers to drink.
We went out later that night to a few bars, got back on the buckets, and the earlier drama became a distant memory, but i hope you agree, a wicked story!
We all woke up the next morning, and having realised how much money we'd spent, cashed in a travellers cheque and hotfooted it out of Vang Vieng on the next available bus. On to Luang Phabang, the group intact and everyone ready for the next experience.
After a long cramped mini bus ride a whole 7 hours to Vang Vieng we met Jack, Nico and Sebastien ( who convinced us driving a motorbike through Vietnam is a good thing to do and this is what we spoke of the whole 7 hours) while going over the worst roads in the world (Laos not Vietnam!). We arrived to find our guesthouse and went out to give Jack (the bucket virgin) his first taste of strong mixed spirit, who knows what percent Sangsom whisky, redbull and coke, all mixed together nicely in a sand bucket- that you have heard of before.
Now all us pro's knowing how it is going to effect us knowing not to bring any valuables, things you can take out and lose quite easily... poor Jack somehow managed to lose his phone, camera and wallet, and also managed to get in morning (daylight) when everyone else got in early morning (still night fall). Ouch, the next morning he woke up HANGING. Such a trooper though, for this day was the day we were to TUBE. DUN DUN DUN!!!
Tubing- an inner ring of a tractor tire, a large floating device in which you sit in, float leisurely down the Mekong River. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong ( The worlds 10th largest river) while Laos men are shooting pepsi bottles filled with water attached to long strings to pull you against the fast moving current into their bar.
Now earlier I said leisurely, I would say it is anything but. Every 5 meters there is another bar with exciting activities like a bucket hanging on a string in the middle of the river and you have crawl our on the wire rope, to reach the bucket and come all the way back to get a free bucket, Tom didnt quite understand, tried to bring the bucket back. He made it there but fell in half way back but got us a free bucket!
Massive water slides (with a 20 foot drop the other side!)-- which was AWESOME, card games and drinking games galore.
I'm not sure if you can tell from this, but by the 3rd bar we were pretty drunk, yet thinking and wondering how anyone can get hurt by doing this ( we have heard horror stories) but as long as you keep your wits about you, can swim easy peasy. Then it got dark. More dun dun dun's.
For some reason we went past THE LAST BAR as the man said we can tube all the way back to Vang Vieng, okay, trust a local, yes, but this isnt the same - the river bends and fast moving rapids (Probably not) but the water began to move much faster, it was pitch black with no bars around and we all lost sight of one another.
I think we all had a moment of sheer panic, trying to get to the side was impossible, I was alone and quite frightened at this point, I even imagined crocodiles were coming to get me in the water. I finally met a girl along the way who has been tubing the last 5 days and had also lost her friends EVERYTIME, and kept telling my whole panicky self that it happens. Well shit no it should NOT happen- especially five times in a row you silly so and so. Shouldnt you have some wits? Maybe not go after dark? This was our lesson.
I climbed out of the water as soon as the water slowed down to climb up a steep mountain with a rickety old ladder made of twigs. At this point I am the only one, screaming for Tom, and everyone to keep floating until they can see the ladder, I dont think they heard a thing- but finally Nico showed up missing Sebastien and we panicked together. ( I think me more than him). Eventually Sebastien showed, then Jack and 20 minutes later to be my most happiest moment I heard Tom who eventually came into my very wonderful sight. Relief.
Tom's account of tubing..............................................
So! All was well in the world of tubing, we were swinging off rope swings, playing drinking games, climbing on wires (should've listened to the damn rules!) and generally having a good time.
As you can read from Kels' account above, tubing was a great laugh.
Right up until the last half hour.
Now we werent drunk drunk by the time the end came, but we'd heard from a few reliable sources that you can float back into town only 10 minutes later and trying to save money, we lost a bit of sense.
The others raced around a bend ahead, through no fault of their own, but the piece of river that i was on was moving a bit slower. In hindsight i was a little too close to the edge, but nothing prepared me for what was about to happen....
As i turned the corner my tube got snagged on an overturned tree and to my horror i was flipped upside down, in the dark, and the undercurrent pulled me to the tree's centre. I was underwater for about a minute all in all but it felt like a bloody eternity.
I could see my tube above me caught on the tree, so i kept on swimming and swimming, trying to reach the surface. After about 30 seconds of this futile effort (i got nowhere and everytime i stopped i was dragged back to the centre) I told myself that this was NOT how i was going out, drunk under a tree on holiday.
I'd never seen Blink live, i'd never watched West Ham win a league, all in all i just dug a little deeper, and hand over hand i pulled myself up and around towards the surface. Branch by branch.
I got to the top and air. Sweet bloody air. (i wouldve traded it for a cigarette but air would have to do!)
I grabbed my tube and swam 30 foot to the closest bank. I was in the middle of nowhere.
I could hear Kelsey literally screaming my name (we all know how she loves a panic) and tried to shout back but she couldnt hear me. I walked on the bank to catch my breath and thought to myself i can either get in a Tuk-Tuk now, or i can get back in the goddamned river and go to her. So i got back in the tube.
By this time i could hear where the group was, Jack was guiding me in by voice as i couldnt see a thing. I reached the group and walked to Tuk-Tuk where i promptly collapsed and waited 10 minutes before saying anything.
Apart from a slight hitch towards the end, the day was fantastic and now we had a story to tell and beers to drink.
We went out later that night to a few bars, got back on the buckets, and the earlier drama became a distant memory, but i hope you agree, a wicked story!
We all woke up the next morning, and having realised how much money we'd spent, cashed in a travellers cheque and hotfooted it out of Vang Vieng on the next available bus. On to Luang Phabang, the group intact and everyone ready for the next experience.
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