The rushed nature of us passing through Luang Prabang was so that we could go "tubing" on Dixy's Bday. For those of you who are unaware of what "tubing" involves, I shall explain & then let the pictures roll...

4kms North of Vang Vieng, which is situated on a wide & deep river, there is roughly a km of bars located on the banks. There are probably about 8 bars in total - each of which has some form of rope swing or zip line. Each of these bars sells lots of beer, & the afore mentioned buckets (which we first encountered in Thailand). In order to get from one bar to the next you either swim down river (aka - stay afloat & the current does the rest) or get into a large rubber ring (aka - "tube"). At each bar there are guys with ropes who pull you in, so that you can spend money at their bar. It is a very simple concept, although also an incredibly stupid one too! Alcohol & swimming don't really go together - & 30/40ft high rope swings, whilst under the influence of alcohol, don't really sound like sensible activities. However, as we all have learned in life, sensible isn't usually much fun...tubing DEFINITELY was!!! The following pictures are a mixture of our first day (Andy's Birthday) & two days later (recouperation day inbetween) when the "slow boat crew" were reunited. The weather was spectacular on Andy's Bday, but the showers didn't dampen anyone's spirits on the second day tubing...as you can see...

First bar

Everybody writes on each other with marker pens...why not?!? Some of the messages are most definitely inappropriate for this blog though :-)

Second bar - busy, busy, busy!

Party time

Doubling up on the zip line with Elisha - after she had chickened out on me the first time!

Dixy does it backwards

Bring on those buckets...

The view of bar one from bar two

Who needs a tube...not us

Third bar & its rope swing

The third bar was "the MUD bar" - because it had a rather large mud pit to enjoy...

There was a lot of music throughout the day - appreciated enthusiastically, of course!

Allan & I in the river (on our first day), after dark, making our way to the final bar.

Tuk tuk being mauled by drunken tourists wanting to avoid the 3km stoney walk home. These are designed to carry a maxium of nine people! This shot reminds me of a nature programme I saw, in which a pack of Lions take down an Elephant!

As I mentioned previously, the very principles of tubing (alcohol + water + rope swings, etc) is in itself very dangerous. However, I am pleased to say that no one in our (large) group received anything more than some minor cuts & bruises (from rocks & water impact respectively). We did see a few walking wounded in the town during the evenings, but everyone looks out for each other & an excellent time is had by all. I thoroughly enjoyed the two days tubing, as did we all, but I suspect it will be something I never revisit...who wants to push their luck, eh? ;-)

I am meddling with my usual well ordered blog now, as I am going to report on the sightseeing from our second day (yes, we actually did something other than drink) whilst we were in Vang Vieng. At least, four of us did - Allan, Pete, Yurry & Myself all hired scooters & went exploring.

We were on our way to find a cave that had been recommended to us by a local. There are many caves in the mountain range that runs along the river, South of the town. In order to get to the caves we had to cross a couple of sketchy bridges. One mistake in steering & you would be in a lot of trouble!

We passed through a number of small settlements/villages, where the locals live off the land. Asia has many rice fields, which supports the endless varieties of rice based meals in the continent. The people here could take advantage of the town's developed ways, although there seems to be a great deal of pride & traditional values in the way they live. It is what they have always known. It felt special to observe.

+++PICTURES OF TOWN FOLK & RICE FARMS ++++

When we arrived at the cave we had a very steep climb (about 100m) to conquer, which was a challenge in that humidity.

Whilst it was not the most spectacular cave I have ever been in, it was still impressive. It was also unique in that there were no developed paths in the cave, once you had gone into the entrance, meaning you literally had to climb, crawl & squeeze your way around.

On our way out of the cave we decided that we had to take full advantage of the lagoon that we had seen on our way in, as we were all very sweaty boys. As ever, the thrill seeking continued. Any opportunity to jump off things...

As we made our way back over the river, towards the town & civilization, we had a great view of the town from the South. The surrounding mountains & terrain are simply spectacular.

Before Allan departed to join us for three weeks of Asia adventures, he had been advised that he should check out "The Gibbon Experience" - located in the North of Laos. Dixy opted out of the adventure & carried on into Vietnam ahead of us, accompanied by the Bournemouth lads we had met on the slow boat. Now, Smally & I had come from Huay Xai (the town on the Laos side of the border with Thailand - where we caught the slow boat from), but we had to go to Vang Vieng for tubing. So, in order to go to the Jungle & see some Gibbons, we had to retrace our steps through Luang Prabang & then onto Huay Xai. This time we decided against the slow boat, opting for a 13hour bus journey instead. The travelling is the least enjoyable aspect of travelling (how ironic). You can't complain about the view out of the window though...

We had booked onto a three day, two night, exploration of the jungles in Northern Laos - in the hope that we would sight some Gibbons. For the full details of the project & the experience, please refer to the link below.

http://www.gibbonx.org/

When we arrived on the first morning we were advised that due to the large quantities of rain in the past few days the 4x4 was unable to cross the river...meaning an additional 5hours hiking to get to the jungle. We decided that we were up for the adventure & pressed on regardless of the poor weather & the sticky, slippery & drenched terrain.

After nearly 6hours of trekking (through some of the deepest & stickiest mud I have ever encountered), we arrived at the Gibbon centre - which is where we would collect our harnesses. What makes this such a unique experience is that the jungle has a network of zipline cabling, which protects the jungle floor, fauna & wildlife, whilst also providing an amazing view of the landscape. Below you can see me zipping off into the mist...

As it began to get dark we arrived at our treehouse, which is elevated 100m & deep, deep, deep into the jungle. Our group of 7 explorers sat down for a rice based meal (which was the theme for every meal over the next 3days) & reflected on a challenging - yet enjoyable day.

The next morning we were up at 5am & getting ready to go looking for some Gibbons.

We had been warned, that due to the vast amounts of rain (it is the rainy season), that our chances of sighting Gibbons was vastly reduced. Nonetheless we had our breakfast at the kitchen, located across the valley from our treehouse (a brief zip away), then set off deeper into the jungle. I am sad to say that we didn't see any Gibbons, although every one of us saw (& personally got to know) enough leeches to last a lifetime. As we weren't on any kind of a trail we were trampling through the damp detritus of the jungle floor - the perfect habitat for leeches! Allan & I were also attacked by a swarm of rather large wasps - I managed to bail down the slope (on my arse) unscathed, although Allan wasn't so fortunate. He was stung four or five times. Despite the constant rain, the biting creepies, &the concern that we might not be able to cross the river to civilization the following day (due to the rainfall & consequent rising water level), we all pressed on exploring the jungle on the zip lines.

On our two full days in the jungle we visited three of the other tree houses, all of which were only accessible via zip lines. We all enjoyed the hot chocolate of another group, whilst utilizing their hammocks, as they no doubt did at our tree house (minus the hammocks).

The most attractive tree house was the last one that we saw before leaving on the last day. This is the newest of the lot, & unlike the others it doesn't leak at all. Very nice. Does it remind anyone else a little bit of the Swiss Family Robinson setup?

I think the most extraordinary creature we saw in the jungle was a beetle that our guide found in the main centre. I assure you it is not a spider - as you would assume on first sight. What a bug though! :-)

I am pleased to say that the rain must have caused the river to burst its banks, as the water level was lower than it was on our way into the jungle. Therefore we did not encounter the difficulties we had been dreading as we experienced hour after hour of rain during our jungle time. I had purchased myself an Indiana Jones hat for the adventure, so it was pretty fitting to find a bridge over the last river that could have easily featured in one of his films. I am clearly very happy to have survived a tough experience, but despite not seeing any gibbons, every piece of our clothing being caked in mud & smelling rotten, being soaked through for three days, being eaten by mosquitos, leeches, & stung by wasps, I wouldn't have changed the experience at all...I had an amazing time :-)

Laos = DONE. Next stop...Vietnam

written by  johnnoble on July 4, 2009 from Luang Prabang, Laos
from the travel blog: John's year off...
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It looks like a beach party but instead, it's beside the river! :) cool! :) I would love to review and tip that kind of place in my blog at http://www.baraaza.com/contest/ but today, they are giving out cool cameras to winners along with other cool travel gadgets! :)

written by  Mandino on July 5, 2009

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