Blogging Pubbitch

The roads weren't bad at all, though the bus, clearly designed for some sort of body that would never reach such excessive heights as 6 foot, had tiny seats. Bah! At least there was air-con, and we caught it. Why is that a bonus? Because we almost missed it completely, thinking that the bus left at 7.30 in the morning. In reality, it left at 7. Quite what I was doing up at that time is one of the great mysteries of traveling!

The bus journey delivered us to Vang Viang after following a route through the mountains and low flying clouds. Lovely, and only hair-raising is you made the mistake of sitting on the wrong side of the bus and looking down. Vang Viang sits on a plain, near a river who's name I don't have to hand (because I'm useless like that) and surrounded by mountains that suddenly burst from the plain, ascending ludirously quickly and then plunging back down again. The best simile would be to compare them with incisors and molars, covered in a thick layer of foresty plaque. Mountains like teeth.

Vang Viang is a dope-head's dream, possibly because the of the utter lack of anything resembling Lao culture (except for a tiny Wat) If sitting around smoking didn't take your fancy, the other activities seem to centre on riding large inner tubes down the river through spectacular scenery being hailed by random people on the shore who are keen to sell you large bottles of Beer Lao (a fine beverage) At one place we clambered off our rings (one of us plunging up to her chest in the water, and one of us getting his knees slightly damp)(no pun intended) and made our way into water filled caves.

The highlight of the cave trip was the clay "slides" that we had to scoot down to reach parts of it, and the miniscule exit, which appeared to be only 3 foot long by about a foot and a half high. Fortunately, this appearance was deceptive. It was at least 2 foot high. We all made it out safely.

Evenings in Vang Viang seem to consist of watching videos. It's a relaxing place, but after a day or two, I was ready to leave....