Vibing in Vang Vieng!

We arrived in Vang Vieng via train. The train was quick and well organised, but owned by the Chinese so it was very strict also! Our first port of call was to find a bar to watch United in, as kick off was only half an hour away. Luckily, our lovely friends had been out earlier to find a bar and get a good table!

Monday saw the return of tipsy tubing, which didn’t disappoint again. The group size was much smaller this time, but the organiser- Mr Wang was on great form and ensured that everyone was having a good time. It was also some sort of national holiday in Laos, so it was great to see all of the locals having a bit of fun, drinking beer, splashing us with water and dining at restaurants which were knee deep in the river !

We spent the most part of Tuesday at the blue lagoons. We visited two different lagoons, 2 and 3. Lagoon 3 was very activity based, we played catch, rafted and zip lined into the water. Lagoon 2 was more chilled, it still had a 3m platform for jumping at which was fascinating to watch. There were a few lads that seemed to have mastered the art of diving, performing flips constantly- but the most amusing contestant was the Chinese lady who bottled it at the top, and spent around 40 minutes quivering over the edge , before eventually jumping after a widespread attempt of encouragement from everyone at the lagoon.

On Wednesday we said goodbye to friends Luc and Katja and then had a recovery afternoon by the pool. In the evening attempted to ride in a hot air balloon. Unfortunately, when we got to the site, we were told that the wind was unsafe and that we would wait for 30 minutes for it to die down. By the end of the wait it was much windier and we were informed that it had to be cancelled. Later on, we went out for a nice Indian meal and returned home early for a few card games and a good nights sleep!

This morning, we attempted the hot air balloon again and this time it was much more successful! We flew through the valleys for around 30 minutes and saw some great views, even if it was a little bit scary at times! We were back at the hostel and having breakfast by 7 and then sadly saying goodbye to another member of our group, Mirjam. We’ve really enjoyed all of our time so far in Laos, but it’s definitely been made better by the group we have been travelling with so it’s been a little sad saying goodbye to friends that we have grown close to over the last week. Fortunately Sarah is still stuck with us until the end of Vientiane!

Favourite moment in Vang Vieng: Hot air balloon!

Beer choice : Beerlao (650ml) 25,000 Kip (£1.15)

Written by: Ben.