Laos

Laos – A small country sandwiched and landlocked between Burma, China and Vietnam, I was surprised to see the amount of fellow backpackers and tourists in this country. Starting our journey in the Capital of Vientiane, I soon discovered through our guide books that this place was previously occupied by a French Colony. This made sense after a confused look at the many French bakeries around the city. A quick heads up…This city is dusty as hell! With construction of many hydroelectric dams by the Mekong, dust is everywhere and will get everywhere. Right now is dry season and even the locals have been known to complain about the dust and dirt. Luckily we only made a brief pit-stop here and headed to Vieng Vang which was about a 5hr bus ride commute. Make sure you have a solid stomach for the ride up. With roads intermingled and intertwined around the mountain, expect to be head-bobbing the whole way up.

Amongst the adventure trekking and outdoor activities like kayaking, rock climbing and mountain biking, the main reason tourists come to this city is for the “tubing”…drunken tubing! In a nutshell, inner tubes from large tracker trailers are rented to tourists to stay afloat by the river. The fee is about 55,000Kip which also includes the Tuk-Tuk ride to the top of the river (where the drop off point is). Word of mouth is a great indicator of this place as it is everything people say it is who have been there. As we were dropped off, I was mesmerized by the sights and sounds around me. With bamboo built bars alongside the river and bumping music pounding, locals are sure to convince you to go to “their” bar…as they throw you a rope and reel you in from your tube. Mixed with free shots, “specialty shakes n desserts” and copious amounts of Beerlao available, its no wonder that there are several injuries a year amongst the tourists.

Like a scene from the movie, Hook/Peter Pan, there are also giant swings and slides that launch you several hundred feet from the air into the water. It honestly felt like an adult playground. This time of the year is quite dry and the water quite slow though, so if you do decide to ever venture down the entire river from start to finish (3.5km), give yourself plenty of time to make it down before it gets dark. We had friends who had to paddle in the dark to find their way back. If you are in this area as well, do check out the lagoon about 6km outside the main city. Motorbikes and bicycles are available to rent, but the ride is pretty bumpy. Save the sweat and rent a motorbike in my opinion. There is cave which will take your breath away. A brief hike up the mountain before reaching the entrance, make sure you bring proper shoes and a great flashlight or headlamp. As I made it to the top and entered the cave, I was soon swallowed by the dark around me. Feeling like I was in the Bat-Cave, you will be amazed by how big, deep and dark it is….With so many directions to walk in, I was really disoriented and got lost at some points. It wasn’t until after I came back down the mountain that I read that the site offered tour guides (for a marginal price)…lol.

Probably the most memorable experience I have encountered so far has been from this city as well. The guesthouse we stayed at (Dokhova Guesthouse) tried to rip us off. Apparently, several others were scammed by the same guesthouse owner as well in the days were there too. Attracting tourists in, the guest house owner sold us by offering a “discount” price, and then attempted to charge us a different price upon checking out. As we explained to him and his wife that they were indeed wrong (as they claimed to show us the “discount rooms” the day prior but didn’t), we refused to pay the extra charge. Calling the wife’s bluff on her “attempt” to call the police, we told then told him we were displeased by the level of service and that he should expect to be receiving a bad review in the Lonely Plant travel reviews. Big Mistake! The Guesthouse Owner then snapped with head bursting rage and started yelling at us. He grabbed my friend Cailey by the wrist and stole not only her passport, but her baguette lunch and his business card. He then refused to reason with us until the police “got” there. We were so shocked by his actions; both of us were taken aback. As I tried to reason with him further, he said that he was allowed to keep our passport since we were staying at his place. Note to all – your passport is your property, and your property only. Anyone attempting to take it is acting illegally. After some brief words of distraction, Cailey then fought back and successfully snapped her rightful property (and baguette lunch which he stole as well…lol). As the owner attempted to grab her again, I gave him a hefty shove against the glass display case and told him not to assault her again. We then ran to the nearest tuk-tuk in attempt to make it in time for our bus ride to the next city. Thinking we were in the clear, the crazy wife started chasing us directly behind in her truck. As we got to the bus station and she brought over a police officer who looked who looked no more than 16 yr old in puke-green police uniform. Barely speaking fluent English he then asked for our version of the story. Luckily the other tourists in the tuk-tuk witnessed everything and vouched for us. We finally just settled and paid her the extra cash to shut her up and get her going. Looking back, fighting for the differential of 120,000KIP ($15USD), probably wasn’t worth the effort of being stuck in a 3rd world country…but hey that’s like 3 days of fine living in South East Asia! Learning our lesson for next time, we will always make sure to have our rates written in writing prior or equally pay in advance for our accommodations. Another piece of advice I have learnt is to always take a business card of the hotel you are staying at. If you ever get lost (which seems to happen a lot), you can just give the taxi driver the card and tell him to go there! This becomes handy if you don’t speak the local language as well!

Laos Tubing Video: (Can't take credit for this vid, found it on youtube, but it's a pretty good depiction of what you could expect in Vang Vieng, Laos...