The third day of our Vang Vieng tour arrived with the combined sounds of simultaneous sctatching coming from the roof of our new accomodation,(a bamboo bungalow away from the defening din of the bucket bar which although VERY basic, was quiet and cheap at $3), and the clucking of what sounded a rooster being hit with a big stick. Thankfully both these irritable noises waitied until 8am to present themselves and we took the free alarm call to make for an early wake up. If truth be told I had a nervous/apprehensive/excited feeling for the day of Tubing ahead of us anyway so sleeping any longer was out of the question.
We atarted the day with a breakfast from the generic Vang Vieng menu which was a little heavier than usual to line the stomach and made our way to Friends Bar no17 at around 11am to meet some travelling buddiees we picked up in Luang Prabang who were to share the days fun and frivolities with us. Although 11am sounds a little early to start a day of drinking and floating, we ahd been assured by many previous participants of the sport that a start any later would be a waste of valuable Tuebing time and with this advice firmly lodged we made our way to the Tube Shop.
The clue being in the name, this shop sells, or should I say hires only one thing, that being old overinflated truck inner tubes for 5GBP day (inclusive of transfer to the first bar of the river run). Being the only place in Vang Vieng offering this service and with in excess of 200-300 customers a day, Alicia and I concluded that the owner of the shop is likely to be the richest man in the WHHOOOLLLLLEE of Laos. We parted with our cash, had a number scribbled on whatever piece of bare flesh was showing to signify our tube number for the purpose of deposits, (again we reckon at least 40% of participants dont make it back in time to return theri tube thus making more money for the King of Vang Vieng ie...the Tube Shop owner) ,stuffed ourselves 16 strong on to a Tuk Tuk designed for 6 at most,and made our way to the first bar on the river. The time was now 12pm.
The next still as yet undertmined amount of time were spent drinking, swimming, drinking, diving in to the river, drinking, swinging off impossibly high swings in to the river, drinking, playing mud volleyball, drinking, tubing from one bar to the next, drinking, flying down zip wires in to the river and er , you guessed it, drinking. As the day unfolds the bits inbetween the drinking ie, the zip wires, swings etc.., get even more hazardous and you can see where and how all the injuries happen. All in all(we think) we had a fun afternoon quickly settling in to the vibe which was unlike anything I had ever expirieced and which thankkfully was not the 18-30 crew does Costa Brava I was expecting. Thankfully neither of us sustained any battle wounds bar banging headaches the next day and, we also managed to get abck in time to recieve our deposit.
As way of some advice for future tubers, there isnt really any need for a tube, given there are about 20 bars within walking or swimming distance of one another, if anything they become cumbersome to look after a few choice beverages and the most likley injury you will sustain is being hit in the head by one of the many lines the bars throw in to the water to pull you in.. The hardcore tubers (including one guy we met who was on his 100th day of tubing........mentalist) dont bother with tubes after the first or second visit.
Although we thoroughly enjoyed our Tubing time neither I nor Alicia has any inclination to participate again. We figure that as we both managed to evade even a scratch on our first visit, we wouldnt be taking the chance again!!!
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