Maja Nordlund

Do you like Friends? You know F.r.i.e.n.d.s, the TV-show? If yes, you must visit Vang Vieng in Lao!! If no, don't go near this town..! It's a really small town, one main street and one pubstreet. On the mainstreet every single restaurang shows Friends on big flatscreens! So all the guests watch it while they're eating! And it's so cosy, because you sit on a uplifted "floor" and have a kind of TV-table as a dining table, and lean against a cushion so it really feels like a living room!

One restaurant didn't show it though, instead they let us choose a movie which they turned on while we ate. Django Unchained became my choise, too bad there was a group of Australians and Englishmen who did not get the whole watching-TV-while-you-eat-thing, so they played card, drank beer and talked soooo loud! Not okay! ;p

 

The next day the went for the main attraction in Vang Vieng; tubing! Or well, at least it was the main attraction a couple of years ago. If you've never heard of tubing, it's when you lie in a big tube-ring, going with the flow of the river, stopping at bars along the sides. Two or three years back, the goverment closed all the bars, since so many young people got too wasted and several died either by drowning in the river, falling on the slippery rocks, or jumping of the bridges into the shallow water.

 

So, now it's not at all the same thing as back then, the tourists are less, the waterlevel is sooo low (at least in this time of year), so we actually had to use our legs and swim for a while, in order to get anywhere. And in many places our tubes got stuck on the stones on the "bottom", it really was that shallow!

But still, we had a really great time, and it was a fun experience! The sun was shining and we'd bought our own drinks (7:a vodka for 3 USD!), and we met some fun people that were floating around beside us! ;p We actually just stopped at the first bar we got to. A couple of young Lao-boys draged us into the side and helped us up. There it was only western tourist, and we actually met some Swedes from the same city as Evelina is from! What are the chances?! Me and Ainsley made our own drinks, and don't you worry mom, it was an unopened bottle bought in a store so no methylated spirits (T-röd)! :p

We played volleyball and just chilled! Then some guys, who'd gone tubing before, told us that if we don't wanna be late bringing the tubes back (and paying a late-fee) we should really get going, and still we'd probably would be late..! So we rushed into our tubes but the water flow was not on our side (as I just told you above) so we didn't feel like we had the time stopping at the other bars. But they seemed kinda dull anyway so it didn't matter. I felt satisfied just sun bathing and listening to music on Ainsley's Iphone! :)

 

We actually made it back just before 6, so we didn't had to pay any fee. In the evening, we had dinner at a Friends-restaurant (off course) and then I went for a massage, which is even cheaper here in Lao then in Vietnam!

 

The next day we went to the Blue Lagoon and PhuKam cave. We started with the cave, and we'd heard that it was gonna be pitch black, no saftey railings, no man-build staircases, just a huge, real, authentic cave! And it was, oh it really was! We hired one head lamp each and went into the complete darkness. The lamps weren't superstrong but that only made it more exciting. You really had to watch your step, all the time! You had to climb, bend and grab cliffs and stones to get anywhere. The path we were supposed to follow really went into so narrow places that we sometimes though that couldn't be it. It must be another way. But nope, just deal with it. You'll get dirty, but we already had dirty, sweaty, clothes on so we didn't care.

We actually got into the very end of the cave. It took us about an hour, but the way back went much quicker, somehow. In the end we sat down, being the only people that far into the cave. We decided to turn our head lamps of, just to see the real darkness. It went pitch, pitch black. You couldn't see your hand infront of you. So awesome, never done something like that before, you know, when it's not a tour with a guide; you are by yourself, alone. If something would happen; if you would fall into one of the deep holes with only small signs saying "danger", then no one would be there to help you. Cool feeling. Scary, but cool.

 

After we got out in the sunlight again, we went to the lagoon for a swim. The water was pretty cold, and you never knew what was hiding under the surface, since the visability was non-excisting. There was a big tree with a branch hanging out over the lagoon. We tried the rope-swing and Ainsley was the only one who was brave enough to jump from a higher branch straight down into the lagoon! A lot of fun, but unfortunatley I somehow left my running-shoes there. Didn't realised it until we were back in town! :/ But they were kinda worn and ugly anyway so.. :p  

Evelina and Ainsley looking for some adrenaline!