Em & Alyssa were right, it is the Happiest Place on Earth

In Emily and Alyssa's excellent blog, they mentioned that Vang Vieng was like Disneyland, but in Lao, and they weren't far off. The whole place is just filled with tourists and there are fun rides everywhere. Of course there are no rollercoaster’s or bumper cars, but there is rafting, kayaking and tubing, and plenty of other ways to lounge the day away. Vang Vieng is fun, and that seems to be he only reason it's there. Now some people may consider that a bad thing, but if you hit it at the right point in your travels, then it's a magical place. After weeks of seeing sites, and going from place to place, it was nice to find a place that really just let you do what you wanted to do. It also could be called the Happiest Place on Earth just due to the abundance of 'Happy Pizza' places and 'Happy Shakes', which is pretty much just pizza and milkshakes laced with Pot or Magic Mushrooms.

After spending the last few weeks visiting Palaces and Wats, it was nice to get to a place where you can relax and enjoy nature. I met a Dutch guy named Quoc on the bus, who, along with being a fashion designer/artist, was also of Chinese/Vietnamese origin, and it always surprised people that he was from Amsterdam. We decided to share a room, and found a nice place overlooking the river. The first night we just walked around a bit, and that took all of 15 minutes. Vang Vieng isn't a big place. It was on this walk that I ran into Tiffany from the Snedden lab. It was really weird to see a familiar face from home.

The next day Quoc and I went tubing which was really fun, you basically rent an inner tube, they drop you off, and then you just float down to the end. Of course along the way there are a bunch of bars, where you can get some Beer Laos, and relax in the sun. A stressful day it was not. They even have these huge rope swings that you swing on and then land in the water. It's a rough life. Quoc and I took a little too long at the pit stops though, and had to paddle fast towards the end to make it back by sundown. To relax at the end of a long day, we ate at this organic food restaurant, and then went to one of the many TV bars which show Friends non-stop. You just relax on these couch like things, drink beer, and just watch episode after episode of Friends. Don't like the season they're playing? Then just go down to the next place which is probably showing a totally different season. There were also bars showing Soccer, Family Guy, and Simpsons, so take your pick (by the way as I type this I'm sitting next to a young monk, who is checking his email account. Lao is a strange place).

The next day we decided to rent bikes an explore some caves. It was a nice 15 km bike through the country side, and of course when we get to the caves there was a tent set up serving nice cold drinks. Perfect! The caves were amazing. The fist one, Elephant Cave, had a Buddha statue and a stalactite in the shape of an elephant. The next cave, which we needed a guide and head lantern for, stretched for over 2 km, and ended in an underground lake. After sweating from the long hike, the cool clean water was amazingly refreshing. We then went on to the next cave, which wasn't as big, but was huge. It was supposedly used during the Vietnam War, and the Lao war, to house refugees, and protect people from bombings. They were pretty nice digs too. After the trip, we went to give our guides a tip and, then they said that it was $10 for the two of us. Now no one told use the price before hand, and we had to pay admission to get to the caves, so we thought that included a guide, which they make you take. We tried to say, how they should have told us upfront, but the guy wasn't getting it. We finally got it down to $5 for the, and despite the underhanded way, it was well worth the few bucks. The last cave we went to was all filled with water, and we had to rent tubes as well as headlamps to enter. It was spectacular though. We just floated into the cave, and soon we were in total darkness. The cave went on for a fair ways, and then we hit a sandbar, and decided to investigate the rest on foot. After walking about 75 meters we found a long dark tunnel which was submerged, and I (channeling all the curiousness of Tomas), swam to find the end. We had left our tubes further back, and I was afraid of getting electrocuted by the headlamps which were powered by what looks like car batteries, so I left mine on the rocks, and Quoc shone his down the tunnel so I could see. I swam about 200 meters, and the tunnel was narrowing, but at this point I couldn't see a damn thing, and decided to head back. Then we just chilled in the tubes, and enjoyed the sounds of the cave. It was an awesome experience.

Quoc had never been kayaking before, so we rented some, and a guide and went for a 20km paddle. The rapids weren't that great in the day season, but it was a lot of fun, and definitely quicker than the tubes. We did end up on the same route, and it was nice to stop on the shore for some beer and water swings. I tried towing some tubers down the river, but having 10 people in a chain attached to your kayak, made for some hard paddling, so eventually they detached, and I was exhausted. That night after watching a few more episodes of friends, and having an amazing Indian meal (honestly, best Chicken Tikka Masala I've ever had), we went down by the river, where thee are some after hours bars. The night before there weren't many people there, but this night it was hopping, and we stayed up till about 5am drinking buckets of coke mixed with Lao Whiskey. Along the river they had fires going, and like bamboo huts to relax in. Once again, it's a hard life in Vang Vieng.

Quoc and I spent another day or so in Vang Vieng, and then parted ways. Me heading to Luang Prabang, and Quoc, heading back to Vientiane, so that he could get back to Bangkok, and get a flight home. He was a great traveling companion, and hopefully we'll meet again one day, when he comes to Toronto to visit his cousin. Vang Vieng was great, and the perfect rest I needed before heading back to other cities. Sure it's a tourist place, but sometimes, that can be a good thing. I'm glad every place isn't like that, but it's nice to have a place where you can do a lot or do a little, and it's always a good time.