police, leaches and torential rain!

Bush camping 20 minutes to the north of Vang Vieng did not go well! We arrived and set up camp in a sort of forest area by the side of the road and cooked dinner successfully. It wasn’t until most of us had gone to bed after a camp fire that it started to go wrong! The police turned up with quite a few villagers, and talked to Graham, (who was covering as leader for Danny as Danny had to pick up a new guy whos 75 years old!) saying that we couldn’t stay here. They said it wasn’t safe for us and wanted us to move immediately. Eventually Graham reasoned with them to come to the police station the next day and talk to their boss. As I was falling aslepp it then started to pour with rain. The rain got worse and worse through the night, and some of the brightest and loudest thunder and lightening I have ever heard. I actually woke up to what I was convinced was a bomb or explosion of some kind in a nearby town, as the thunder crashed and echoed. It was not a good night sleep and I woke up in a puddle inmy tent. I soon realized my whole floor was soaked. My tent is quite a disappointment- boo MSR. I managed to hang it from a tree to try and dry it out! That morning we went climbing and got very lost- nowhere in the guidebook did it mention having to cross a river- we had to wade through it- and eventually got to the climbing area. I then had to pull off about 6 leaches from my legs and feet. Yuck! The climbing was ok- a bit dirty and not too easy- I got stuck on the crux of a 5, but could do the crux of the 6c next to it! I think the grading is a bit odd!
Luckily even though Graham fought the police hard to let us stay- they refused and we had to move to a hostel in Vang Vieng- it was a happy moment!
The hostel is nice- the owners are lovely- they have free tea and coffee, and the older lady brought us hot potatoes and pumpkin when we were sitting in the communal area.
Vang Vieng is a real gap-year tourist hot spot. The normal town abruptly turns into a row of Western cafes and bars then back to normal laos again. It’s a bit strange and tacky.
The climbing again is not brilliant- it took us ages of jungle trekking to eventually turn back and try to reach it from the other side- again getting lost- we then got a boat across to the area. Most of the rock was dripping wet, but there were some nice overhanging routes with only a few slimy holds!
Unfortunately this is the next climbing area on the trip so we will be here for about 2 weeks. I took a day off today while the others search out another crag. Every bar plays endless ‘Friends’, or ‘Family Guy’ on TV, for everyone that really wants to get into the local culture…mm!

police, leaches and torential rain!

Vang Vieng, Laos