Slow travel in Laos and an odd place called Vang Vieng

Ham, cheese and tomatoe omelette - ASIAN STYLE!!! yum, more cheese please
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Vang Vieng is an interesting place, slightly unusual and if the weather is bad there is not too much to do. Here is how we got there and the couple of things we did there...

Our last day in Luang Prabang we met up with Dan and decided to spend the afternoon going by boat to the Pak Ou Cave 25km north of the town. Before even getting down near the river we were approached by a local with a boat and we negotiated a price to get there and back. We nicknamed it the "slow boat" but fortunately it was large enough and with a cover that the all day rain did not completely soak us. We finally arrived at the cave and it was a bit of an anti climax after the 90min boat ride to get there. They also sting you for extra money any chance they can - on top of entrance fee there was a cost to hire a torch and some kids try to charge for using the toilet. Stopped at the village that makes the Lao Lao whisky on the way back but there was no one around and we were back on the boat within a few minutes.

that was 7 hours to cover 224km!

Ah.... the slow boat - very slow!
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After a bit of a disappointing day we (Mike, Dan and I) decided to go out for a few drinks at the "western" bars tucked away behind the main street. We discovered that each time you get a cocktail at these places, actually anytime you sit down somewhere, they bring you out a shot of the Lao Lao whisky that is distilled nearby Luang Prabang. We all tried it the first time (pretty bad and I made a face) but only Mike continued at the next two places. Dinner was interesting also - nice garden place but food bit average (we have worked out that we quite like the spicy and varied flavours that the Thais create - for this reason think we have started eating a lot more western food since in Laos).

The fruit shakes! Very good!
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Couple of closing notes on Luang Prabang - there were 2 beggars that we saw a few times each day and rather than just rattling a cup or asking for spare change they silently just appeared behing or next to you (in particular if you had your wallet out and paying for something else) and rubbed their fingers together in your face quite persistently. In general also the Laos people struggle with change - even the smallest amount for example buying a sandwich with the equivalent of say a $AUS 10 note and they have to run to the shop across the road to get a couple of dollars change.

Lao Lao whiskey before everything inlcuding dinner!
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So Friday the bus trip from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng commenced (the trip further reiterates the Laos people's lack of organisation or need to work with any urgency). We were told 7.50am pickup from guesthouse for the 8am bus. We actually ended up waiting in the car for upwards of half hour for 4 people who were actually told 9am pickup. So by 9.15 we arrived at the bus station to transfer to another "VIP" bus - actually just an old Tarago. As a background to our choice for this bus - we paid a little extra than the public bus as we understood the VIP bus took 5 hours and the public bus took 7 hours and was prone to breakdowns. The long awful trip was bad due to a few factors: the roads in Laos are shit, it was a mountainous area with a lot of blind corners and a lot of uphill (that either the Tarago could not handle or the driver was not dropping down to first gear because we took those hills at about 10km/hr), the weather was bad wih rain and poor visibility; and little suspension made for quite the bumpy ride over pot holes and in general (refer to point one about how bad the roads are). To emphasise how slow we were travelling - the larger public buses were passing us! We also did not get a stop until about 5 hours later where someone raised "toilet stop" with the driver but he spoke so little English that he just pulled over on the side of the road (despite being 5 minutes from a town where we stopped for food anyway!).

All aboard! VIP Express (Not)
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We had travelled so slowly that after that stop we were overtaken by the Tarago that left an hour after us (the 4 people we had been waiting for earlier on was the giveaway)! The driver then proceeded to actually speed up and drove crazy for the last couple of hours or so as if annoyed the other bus passed us. Who knows but we finally made it safely just before 4pm (that was 7 hours to cover 224km!).

So Vang Vieng.... checked into a decent guesthouse in the "heart" of the town ie on the main road and then wandered the "town" which we completed fairly fast - there is one main street, 2 streets off these and then the rest are small residential streets or gravel roads. To describe the place - there is just bars/cafes/restaurants/lounge rooms which mainly have low tables with couch/cushions seating (like a lounge room) and all have multiple TVs that play Friends ALL day and night (a couple had the Simpsons or Family Guy). The menus at the places go for days offering all kinds of typical western dishes, salads, baguettes plus Laos food (kept trying it but always a little bland or weird - they do use buffalo skin in their chilli sauce that actually tastes very sweet and not chilli). And lets not forget the "happy" pizzas or drinks and quite a number of "happy" people about the place.

SMILE! Happy food and happy people!
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The following description of our activities in Vang Vieng will no doubt be shorter than the actual description of the town (above) - especially considering it rained the whole time so meant the usual activities of caving, rock climbing and kayaking weren't really appealing. We did go tubing which Vang Vieng is known for but again it was an anti climax - instead of being dropped 4km up the river we think they dumped us off just a km or so away as we got back to the town in about 30 minutes. There is also no signage where to get out of the river so we ended up backtracking and walking on the road with our tubes for about 10 minutes. Mike was feeling a little "ill" (read hungover) that day also but I guess we had to have a few beers when there is so little to do or see at night except Friends and some average food. Also interesting to observe that somethings were more expensive (internet 3 times the price) however accommodation a lot more reasonable than Luang Prabang (all very cheap in general though so no real complaints). Despite this it is a beautiful little spot and tubing down the Nam Song river was very picturesque and peaceful, just odd that the main street is decked out with couches and tvs for the backpackers.