Caught the 'VIP' bus from Vientianne which was basically a run down coach fitted with 40 odd seats into which 60 odd people were meant to squeeze bur having experienced worse we settled down in the aisle. Fortunately enough other people started complaining and we were bundled onto a minibus (which, incidently could not engage reverse and seemed unable to get out of third gear ... plus the windows were almost falling out).
The journey, however, was very easy and 4 hours later (154kms) we reached Vang Vieng. The place has a really nice laid back vibe but it is purely set up for tourists. We settled on a private wooden cabin a little out of town to enjoy both the tranquil setting plus the 'party' scene. Unfortunately it was REALLY cold so we elected to not do the tubing or the climbing options ...... instead we settled down to relax with a bottle of Mekong whisky and Norah Jones (on the ipod, not in person). Enjoyed watching lots of very cold, very beered up travellers coming back from their tubing trip and just spent the days reading, drinking, eating and watching the endless Friends re-runs in the DVD cafes (actually much better than it sounds).
Headed out to th ecaves which were great ... you need a good torch and decent boots but you can explore at your own leisure. It got a little creepy when I turned the headtorch off and realised that I was totally disorientated with th eoption of 3 routes .... things got worse when I shouted for Emma to give me a bearing (Emma stayed at the last light post) but could hear no reply. Settled on what I thought was the route and luckily it turned out to be the right one ..........
After 4 days of this we decided to head to Luang Prebang .....
The journey, however, was very easy and 4 hours later (154kms) we reached Vang Vieng. The place has a really nice laid back vibe but it is purely set up for tourists. We settled on a private wooden cabin a little out of town to enjoy both the tranquil setting plus the 'party' scene. Unfortunately it was REALLY cold so we elected to not do the tubing or the climbing options ...... instead we settled down to relax with a bottle of Mekong whisky and Norah Jones (on the ipod, not in person). Enjoyed watching lots of very cold, very beered up travellers coming back from their tubing trip and just spent the days reading, drinking, eating and watching the endless Friends re-runs in the DVD cafes (actually much better than it sounds).
Headed out to th ecaves which were great ... you need a good torch and decent boots but you can explore at your own leisure. It got a little creepy when I turned the headtorch off and realised that I was totally disorientated with th eoption of 3 routes .... things got worse when I shouted for Emma to give me a bearing (Emma stayed at the last light post) but could hear no reply. Settled on what I thought was the route and luckily it turned out to be the right one ..........
After 4 days of this we decided to head to Luang Prebang .....
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