Vang Vien - April 30th-31st

A very interesting town. We arrived off the bus in the early evening and quickly found a decent place to stay. We noticed that this small northern town was overrun by backpackers and most amenities are suited towards them. It was difficult to enjoy an authentic Laos experience in Vang Vien.

Highlights included: Cycling out to the famous cave overlooking the city and tubing down the Mekong River for half of the day. The latter event is an inner tube ride down a river on steroids! Bars on stilts lined the river banks on each side with locals throwing sticks and rope to reel you in. Loud music and signs for free ‘lao-lao’ (terrible cheap whisky) act to entice backpackers. Ben’s favorite part of the floating experience were the extreme rope swings all along the river. Aside from the tourist jargon, the views of the surrounding greenery and limestone karsts were spectacular. We unfortunately were unable to capture these views on camera. We did enjoy playing volleyball with an international group at one of the bar spots. All was good until Liya was bitten by red ants in five different spots - ouch!

Only after a couple of nights, we felt it was time to move onto the next destination - the capital city, Vientiane.