Days 172 to 175. Laos; Vientiane to Vang Vien

sing the riverboat song.

As soon as we entered Laos, what all had told me about Laotians seemed true. The visa on arrival was easy, and done in a friendly, if slow way. We were also told that Laotians move at their own speed. I was ready and fine with this. Our 30 day visas were issued in 10 minutes, and we exited out the other end of the building and we were in Laos. Beforehand a check that we'd purchased a visa from so border control. He and she both wore warm smiles. I picked up Khop Jay Lai Lai (thank you) and struggled it out. The border guard laughed beautifully at my pathetic pronounciation, slapped my arm, returned my passport, and we were in. The last new country of our journey... or is it?

The countryside as soon as you left Vietnam was worthy of the shires in Lord of the Rings. The rocky streams and sheer green mountains. We could see by the houses that we had joined poverty more closely related to rural Cambodia than Vietnam and Thailand. We left the border at about 8am and we would arrive into the outskirts of Vientiane at about 5pm that evening.

My initial flick through the guidebook, led me to think on the lines of heading north to Vang Vien, then East to where the Plain of Jars are. However, I got speaking to a Slovenian girl name Taz, who had been with us since Hanoi. She spoke of Luang Prubang and the north west of Laos. When I read more, it looked just what I was looking for to finish the last few weeks of the journey. Chilled out villages and towns, dotted along crisp mountain rivers. A route which made more sense being that we are to head from Northern Thailand to Bangkok to complete our travels.

We haggled with a van to drop us into central Vientiane, and ended up paying the equivalent of £3 each, quite steep. However we also noted that there seemed little competition or room to negotiate. We had to take the ride. How can I describe central Vientiane? With almost 5 months in Asia and arriving in big cities like Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Saigon, Kuala Lumpur etc, you expect some bussle. Vientiane is such a sleepy city. Not even a city really, it seems like a town. We were there on a Saturday and Sunday, but it seemed dead. The bars provided a little noise, but still it was very chilled. Tuk Tuk drivers were there and they would make you aware of their availability. But when you said no once, they accepted it instantly. No "where you going?" and pulling out a map of interesting places in the area. Laos is just what you need after months of being treated like an ATM by the locals.

In light of the quiet, we have no anecdotes of our time in Vientiane. Instead we headed north on Monday the 24th September to Vang Vien.

The bus left about 1 hour late, and this was largely due to a group of Spaniards who couldn't get their shit together. Their drinking and smoking was more important than anyone elses needs, including the driver who would was looking forward to being with his family again, after he driven these mashed up Mediteranean Morons for a day. In the last 5 minutes before we were definately leaving, one of the Spaniards decided he'd left his passport at the hotel and asked all to wait while he fetched it. He returned with the passport and several big bottles of Beer Lao to drink on the way.

Vang Vien, is a backpacker haven, and the main draw is the tubing. It's a simple activity. You rent a tube, get dropped off 3km up the river and float back to town. Up until recently this was a boozy activity. Bars would litter the river bank and Farang would get drunk and high, crash into rocks and die in droves. I was quite scared, to read several warnings about this. So when we went to rent the tubes I had a surge of reluctance and asked to switch to Kayaking. However the kayaking was a much more led tour, and much more expensive. I came to my senses in realising that the freedom activity was the tubing. I just didn't want to die. Luckily we found out the river was low, and this put my mind at rest.

We paid £4.25 for tube hire. A tuk tuk dropped us up the river and in we got. There was no skill involved really. Just get in and float. Maybe occasionally paddle yourself away from the bank and rocks, but nothing else to do except sit back. See the mountains pass by, and wave to locals on the river bank. The bars have now been all closed down, so the fatalities have hopefully decreased. We joined a German mother and daughter for the tubing. They made use of our rented water proof bag for their items. Also three Japanese were in our group. Apart from me being too absorbed in taking pictures than where I was going, hence getting caught in some branches for a while, nothing of excitement happened. This was the point, a relaxing chill on the river. I'm so glad Sarah made me do it. She was right, we can't come to Vang Vien (or even Laos for that matter) and not tube.

I'm not hugely attracted to Vang Vien. It seems everything I wanted to come to Laos to get away from. The drinking is prominent. The bars look a little like those in Pattaya Thailand. This dislike was further compounded by a loud drunken fight outside our room in the early hours. With the river enjoyed, I'm glad to be moving on.

Tomorrow we are heading to Luang Prubang. We are informed this is another Hoi An and Ubud. A cultural part of Laos, with chill and kraft shops. From there west to the Thai-Lao border. Then, and this is a possibility I am hoping for.We have read that just north of Chiang Rai in Thailand you can get a short visitors permit for Bhurma. Only one village, but that may be an extra country and one few I know have visited.

Right now, the tooth trouble which came in Ho Chi Minh City, has recurred. There is nothing I can do but pain killers until I get to Bangkok or Chiang Mai. But I've whinged enough about health matters in my past posts so I won't now.