we're in vang vieng, a city that has exceeded expecations, to say the least. i barely know where to begin, so we might as well start with the tubing:
just about everyone comes here to ride innertubes down the river. i have no idea how long this has been going on, and at best, it sounded to us like a one day activity. a one trick pony of a town, if you will.
but first day here, we met four new friends and arranged to meet at the tube rental shop the next morning at 11. after signing a waiver, they send you upriver in a tuk-tuk where you're dumped on the banks to begin the trip. after floating for literally 45 seconds, you drift into a riverside bamboo bar, filled with people drinking beer and lao whiskey and taking turns going off a 30 foot trapeze swing into the river. we had our first beer, did the swing, and reboarded our tubes. i'm not kidding here, 30 seconds later you reach the next bar. its the same as the first bar, but instead of a swing, they have a zipline. another beer, do the zipline, back in the tubes.
30 seconds later we get to bar number three. this bar has no swings, no ziplines, no bells or whistles, but it is packed with people, and we join them for another beer.
this is the pattern for the next five to six hours, with occasional variations. one bar has a gigantic waterslide that you ride down in your tube before it launches you 15 feet over the water (looked too dangerous so we skipped that one). another bar has mud volleyball. thats a volleyball court set in 3 feet of mud (definitely did that one).
the whole river has been turned into an adult playground, and yes, it can be quite dangerous, but of course we're being very safe. you'll have to trust me, here.
we have found other activities in vang vieng. along with two of our new friends, we went rock climbing again, solidifying our desire to officially get into climbing. once again, ashley proved to be a natural, as the only person in our group to make it to the top in our last two routes, which are set in massive limestone cliffs hanging over rice paddies. if all goes well, we'll go again tomorrow or the next day.
today we had a long hike through farms and villages, stopping twice to explore some caves. twice when i said i saw a bat, ashley hightailed it for the entrance, with me not far behind. that said, we've had our share of creepy animal encounters. last night had me chasing a humongous spider around our bungalow, with ash worling the flashlight and occasionally screaming. on our last climb ashley thinks she saw a snake slither into a crack in the wall. we've both gotten used to it, but no one likes to see an enormous cockroach in the bathroom right before you turn in.
although we never found out what it was celebrating, yesterday was some kind of festival, featuring boat races on the river from dusk till dawn, and copious amounts of drinking by the locals. ashley and i had to laugh this morning when we were buying a bottle of water, and the shopkeeper who seemed to barely be dealing with his hangover had to chase a cow down the street that had stolen several bags of soap. you can't make that up.
we have a friend coming to town tomorrow or the next day, so we think we'll wait for him to do one last tube down the river, and then make our way south to vientiane. by most accounts, its a big ugly city with little to do, but laos has surprised us so many times, so we'll make up our own minds when we get there. and i think thats it for now.