Vang Vieng

Still in need of 2 Imodium, we left Luang Prabang 9am a couple of days ago for the 6 hour journey to Vang Vieng.
As the crow flies it's not very far (160km) but because of the winding roads around the mountains the coach only went at at about 30 km an hour.
At times we were at 1500m high.
The scenery on route was beautiful, forested mountains and small villages along the way, some in  really high regions, as usual children ran and  played bare foot in the streets with Mothers sweeping or preparing food for the family meal on an outside stove.
We took the VIP coach as it promised a toilet and air con and I felt I would need both. The toilet turned out to be little more than a non flushing pit and I could have blown out cooler air than came from the a/c unit, still, it was the best of the rest.

Inside the VIP coach. What you can't see is where the windscreen has been  taped up, I can't say as I felt that important.

The loo was tiny, I had to visit it once and it was a real task trying to balance over the seat whilst the coach winding round a mountain, I was laughing to myself at what I must have looked like.
Most people hung on until the bus stopped in the middle of no where on a bend albeit with stunning views. They all trooped out and peed wherever they decided.

This is not unusual for the drivers as they all just pull over on the side of the road and pee, many with a fag in the other hand. Delightful!
We arrived in Vang Vieng about 4pm, we shared a tuk tuk with a couple of others to the quieter end of town and checked into a lovely clean place very near the river with big room and huge bed  for 4 pounds each a night.
The town doesn't have the same feel as Luang Prabang, that had a Unesco world heritage status preserving it's beautiful buildings and serenity.
Buses and trucks are not allowed to pass through the town making it all very slow paced with only mopeds and cycles.
Here is totally different, it's a party town made up of mainly guest houses and cafes for the hoards of young backpackers that come here for the 'fun'.
Vang Vieng was a tiny place, it has a dramatic landscape with huge lime stone cliffs providing a stunning back drop, the Nam Song river winds its way through.
For many years this has become a place for activities such as rock climbing, (Frans has gone off to do that today) trekking, kayaking and tubing.
For those of you who have never heard of the latter (I hadn't), it is where you float with the current  down the river in a large inner tube.
This sounds all very tame apart from the fact that there are many bars on route and it has become the thing to stop off at each one along the way for a Lao Beer. Some of the bars even have staff waiting on the river bank with poles to pull you over into their bar.
The bars are outside areas with loud music playing and bamboo chill out structures providing shade to drink your beer before moving on to the next one.
The 3 hour down river trip often becomes more like 6 or 7, consequently there are lots of drunken people in town at 7 o' clock in the evening.
Added to the mix is the towns leniency to marijuana.
On many menus you will see 'happy' shake, pizza, cocktails for example.
Basically, for an extra 1000 kip (about 80p) you can add 'happy' to almost anything and the bar/restaurant owner will pop some marijuana into your drink or food, there is even 'happy' mashed potato!
Problem being, you don't know how much you are getting, mix that with alcohol and floating down a river in an inner tube, not surprisingly there have been many accidents as a consequence.
Indeed, in the 2 days we have been here we have seen at least 5 walking wounded, a couple on crutches.
For the older more sensible people such as I have become, sad but true,  there are bicycles for hire and yesterday that's what we did.
We went out of town and then through dried up rice paddies and dusty dirt roads, always with the limestone cliffs providing the lovely scenery.

A random couple getting in the way of my photo

It was hot day, we  found ourselves  a beautiful spot for a beer at sunset

The shacks to the right are bamboo chill out places to enjoy the view, they have mattresses, cushions and small tables for food and drinks

Today Frans has gone to do some rock climbing, I started the day with a mug of coffee and some fresh fruit, muesli and yogurt, enough for 2 people!

Just as well my stomach is better, yes, I am pleased to report, it's business as usual, hurrah!

Ok that's about it for today, I am off to ponder the shops and find a place to read and take in the scenery.