Vang Vieng
After a drive from Laos' capital we arrived in the beautiful town of Vang Vieng. On the downside this place is backpacker hell. The main street is lined with hippies and gap year kids nursing hang overs while watching Friends or other terrible sitcoms on TV in one of the many restaurants.
I had heard that the area was great for kayaking, biking and caving. Due to it being the dry season the rapids had disappeared but we decided to paddle down the river anyway. For most of the journey, the river is flanked by forests and tall karst cliffs jutting straight from the ground. However, halfway down the 6 km stretch of river we came across the party bars that the city is known for. About four or five bars line the river at this point. They are all blasting terrible western hits and selling the now traditional backpacker drink, the bucket. The bucket is a massive plastic bin filled with the cheapest booze possible and mixed with soda or some other cheap and sweet beverage. One bucket will cause a drunked haze and two will cause you to hallucinate. I oppted for a Tiger beer during our brief stop. All bars also feature a tall stand from which you can swing into the brown water below.
After a spicy and satisfying dinner of papaya salad and a minced pork salad with fresh herbs washed down with plenty of beer we headed out to the main bar area in the town for some dancing. The spot is located riverside, you must take a very narrow wooden bridge down to the island where there are four bars set in a circle. On any given night one of these bars will be full of drunken partiers. As soon as we crossed the bridge I felt like I was catapulted into a different world. One minute we were in quite, respectfull Laos, the next we were in a three ring circus with a fire dancer, flashing lights and crowds of peolple dancing. There was even a pirate there but I think that he is just a hippy that has stayed a bit too long.
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