Tubing !

With all the calm countryside and temple exploration over the last few weeks, it is time for some old school, carefree partying; so I must stop in Vang Vieng, Laos, home of the river tubing bar crawl. The first time I saw the river I immediately thought of the crazy spring break locations. But this place parties like this all year-round. There are a dozen or so bars that line both sides of a river for about a kilometer. There are dance floor decks, rope swings, zip-lines, water slides, mud volleyball pits scattered among them all. You drink at one bar, then jump on a raft, of just straight into the river (usually after flipping off of a rope) to the next; then repeat until after dark. Then you go back to the town, get into dry clothes, and hit the bars there. It was a long four days.
I should mention that I met a great group of Swedish guys (and one girl) that were some of the most carefree partiers I have ever met. I hung out with them through many buckets of ‘Vodka, sprite and redbull’ during my time in Vang Vieng.
I did take one afternoon and do a nice cave exploration and kayaking trip down the river. But of course we had to stop off for a few beers when we kayaked through the bar section of the river.
And good thing nothing ever runs on time in this part of the world. I woke up my last morning, after a late night of partying, at 9:50 am and was still able to throw my stuff in my backpack, jump on the back of a scooter and make it to the bus station to catch the 10 am bus out; because it didn’t actually leave until 10:20.