There was no alarm clock or phone in our room, so Conrad and I were fortunate that I woke up at 9 am to get ready to leave for the VIP bus to Vang Vien. We packed our bags, checked out and headed to the bus.
The bus was a large, brightly painted charter bus that was filled with people all heading to the Land of Tubing. You will often hear backpackers say, "Have you been tubing in Laos?" and it is the kind of comment that is similar to "Did you see Mickey Mouse at Disneyland?". EVERYONE goes tubing in Laos, and this is the place to do it. It is also known for an anything goes sort of attitude. I mean drugs are illegal, but in this place you would feel as though that is quite the opposite, at least from the stories I had heard.
We got on the bus, and sat away from eachother because the bus was already packed. I sat next to a nice Swedish guy named Phillip, who was sleeping throughout most of the bumpy ride. Conrad sat next to a beautiful South African girl who had taught English in Japan, but was currently going back to school to study. The ride from Vientiene took us about 3 hours, and was a beautiful although bumpy ride through the Laos countryside. It was great although a chatty British or Australian girl behind me talked continuously, driving me to near insanity that even my Ipod could not cure.
Once in Vang Vieng, we found accomadation at a nice guest house with TV, 2 beds, a fan and a clean safe central area in the city. We dropped off our things and then wandered the small city in search of food. Everywhere you went there were open air restaurants serving a fusion of SE asian cuisine and playing old TV shows on large screen TVs that you could lounge about in the restaurant and watch.
We picked a restaurant that was playing a rerun of Friends (the one where Ross dresses up as an Armadillo) and ordered food. It was definitely cheaper in Vang Vieng! All the food was about 10,000 kip($1 or so), so I ordered a vegetable tofu soup, spicy bean salad, and a gin and tonic. Conrad got some spring rolls and sweet and sour vegetables and a chocolate shake. We ate in a calm silence as we just took in the surroundings.
Afterwards, we walked around the city and did some shopping. I was in HEAVEN! Flip flops, sunglasses, boardshorts, sundresses, everything I wanted to buy! I currently have bought 4 pairs of shorts and a tank top for under $20! Back in Korea, those things would have cost me over $300.
As the night was setting in, we went our seperate ways for awhile and each chilled out in computer rooms. I was dead tired, and almost fell asleep for the night but was motivated to get out and do something soley because I was hungry. I was walking back to the hotel and found Conrad, and we went in search of food.
As we were walking we ran into Bennet, who had a terrible day! He had gotten his expensive camera stolen from his friends bag in a tuk tuk. Then we ran into Adrianna the beautiful South African who was drinking a bucket of liquor on the street. As we were chatting with her, a friendly woman named Natalie approached us and offered us a free shot of whiskey. We took the shot of whiskey and then realized that she was a promoter for a bar across the river that is the hot party spot.
We all headed over there and it was quite a party! People who bought beer were also given a joint and I am sure plenty of other "happy" substances. I am crazy enough without substances altering my mind, and so is Conrad, so we opted to go and get some food before partying.
As we walked the streets, a tall blond boy looked quite familiar! John our swedish friend from the bus was eating a massive sandwich and wandering the streets looking for something to do with his friend. We all sat down and ate and chatted.
Eventually, we all made it back to the bar across the river and drank in a bungalow and chatted about all the "happy" substances around us that were making everyone dance strangly and sway to the music. Things closed down around 12, and Conrad and I headed back slightly drunk to prepare for the next day of tubing.
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