Vang Vieng: Backpacker Paradise

 We were told Vang Vieng used to be a party town but after several deaths while tubing and stopping at bars along the way, the government cleaned up on what’s allowed. There are still plenty of bars and restaurants but you don’t want to be caught drunk or high on drugs. Those activities have been changed.The focus now is on physical activities—hiking, biking, ballooning, ultralight paraglider, motorcycles, dune buggies, tubing, zip lining—it’s all here. And as we walked through the town, we noticed that we were among, if not the oldest, people in Vang Vieng. The beauty of this place though should not be reserved only for the young. 

For us, Vang Vieng has been both relaxing and busy. I was able to add a third layout in my art journal which will be finished only after we are back home. The main focus of each layout is added to the backgrounds in country. Then at home comes the final completion of the pages.

The hotel Amari Vang Vieng provides beautiful vistas from the poolside patio. This morning we had breakfast there looking up from dragon fruit and melon to the majestic blue karsts. 

                                                                                       

The hotel was also able to arrange a longboat ride for us on the river, Nam Song that flows through town. The long boat ride was relaxing and an easy way to see the river. We had a few small thrills as the water became choppy as it flowed around rocks, past water buffalo, people fishing or clam digging. We thought it would be a very short ride but it was quite long and we loved it.

And what about the night market?

Yesterday we had  dinner here and watched a hot air balloon land across the river. It settled down onto a tiny stretch of land between a house and the road. Incredible! We stayed in last night because Dennis was a bit tired after his day of kayaking, tubing, and zip lining. He will be writing about his experiences, so enough said.

The night before we were off on a hot air balloon flight with Above Laos. My accomplishment was getting myself into and then once down, out of the balloon basket. There were eleven of us eager to go up in the air. We were divided into two groups: eight in our basket plus the pilot and three in the smaller basket plus the pilot. As I was attempting to wedge my foot and leg over the side of the basket “someone” was pushing from behind on my backside. Whoa! Just give me a minute. Up and over!

As we left the ground, the only sound you could hear was the gas as it ignited and caused the ballon to rise. The contented sighs of the awestruck passengers was drowned out as the cows below became tiny toys on a play farm. 

We soared over a valley between the karsts. For midwesterners we see mountains and hills, so what’s a karst? When I first saw a karst I thought mountain. But no, a karst is formed from the debris of dead marine organisms (calcium carbonate). These become cemented together as limestone. The collision of continents lifted these layers above sea level. Then the high temperatures and rain carved them into these amazing formations (Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden). More than you want to know?

Soaring over the valley between the karsts, we looked down on rivers, road, small villages quiet at dusk as families were inside having supper. After about a forty minute flight our pilot began to look for a landing spot. As we began our descent we were headed for a rather large clump of trees. Down we sailed straight into those trees. Will he pull up? No way, hitting the tree, boom! And still descending. We ducked down below the rim of the basket. As the basket went over the tree, good sized branches could be heard cracking in two. The pilot never missed a beat as he continued toward a landing spot. 

Instead of ducking, I should have kept filming.

His crew below followed us across dry paddies and around grazing cattle.

The other basket landed first and the crew was busy  deflating and gathering up the balloon. Then we were down! Time to get out. There she blows—no there she goes over the edge with a foot and a leg, then the other one and unto the ground, hurray! Dennis (Bless him), said “Good job! You did it.”

Village kids were right there to help deflate the balloon. Fun for everyone. Then on to Above Laos shelter for a toast of champagne, certificates, and fruit snacks. Such a heavenly way to end the day.

A Final Word on the Vang Vieng Adventure—

Today was quite a day for Ol’ Denny Baby. Cindy opted out of this full day tour she planned for me. She stayed home to paint, read and catch up on writing and I went off to kayak, tube, spelunking a cave and finish the day zip lining.“    

I started the morning thinking, “I can do this. I’m in half way decent shape. After all, I golf, play bocce ball, poker, and drink and as all of us know these are all highly exhausting exercises.” Well, to say I overestimated my abilities is like Humpty Dumpty thinking he could easily jump off that wall. I was the old geezer on the trip, ten years older than the other two guys with the rest of our fifteen companions in their 20’s and 30’s.

 We started off kayaking down the Nam Song River for 1 1/2 hours. The kayaks weren’t like the kayaks I’m used with a back support. These you sat on with your legs stretched straight out in front of you and no back support. After 15 minutes, my thighs were screaming, “What the hell’s the matter with you?” I was in front, my partner Victor from Spain, was in the rear. We managed the 1 1/2 hours without dumping our boat and kept it upright in the rapids. We both were thankful to pull in and get out!

Next was the tubing into and climbing up into the cave. The water was cold and the footing treacherous. At times we had to crawl through tight squeezes. I’m not proud to say that at one point our guide took my hand and pulled me up one of the steeper inclines. Thank God for helmets and head lamps. If not for my helmet, I would have lost more brain cells than I do drinking. We crawled out of the cave and had a nice lunch awaiting us.

After 30 minutes or so, it was zip line time. We climbed further up the mountain—up steep foot paths and hanging rope bridges to the first zip landing and off we went. It was great. Little did we know that there were 7 more landing and zip lines to bring us back to where we began. My legs felt like pudding but I felt great. I had made it!

We started walking back to the river, I thought to meet our truck to return to town. Not so Amigo. We marched down to the river again to board our kayaks to paddle back to town. This time it took about 6 minutes for my thighs to express their discontent. If they had the ability, they would have left me legless in my kayak. I kept hoping to see the lead kayak pull over indicating the end of the torture but it took about thirty more minutes. I crawled out of the boat and river and into our truck. There wasn’t a lot of talking on the ride back. We left our voices and energy up the river somewhere.

I got back to the hotel, got out of my wet clothes, showered, ate dinner at the hotel with a few drinks, and fell asleep at 7:30 PM. So much for the guy who thought he was in “half way decent shape.” I found out I’m on the wrong side of half way. 😢