Vang Vien = SPRING BREAK!!!

OMG. Vang Vien. I can't believe I almost skipped this place bc some people died! This town is in the middle of nowhere, and it has the Mekong River running next to it. Best thing that could have ever happened. It put this town on the map! Vang Vien is 3 streets filled with guesthouses that play re-runs of Friends and Family Guy all day for backpackers who show up to go tubing down the river. To put it simply, you go tubing down a river that is lined with about 15 bars along either side of the river. The bar people throw out ropes, bottles attached to ropes, and tubes to reel you in and you just go down the river making however many bar stops you feel like.  What an AMAZING concept!! :)

It was raining like crazy on our day to go tubing which was pretty unsettling since the current would be a lot stronger.  I decided to share a tube with a friend, Cheryl, and we figured we'd switch back and forth on who swam in the river and who actually sat in the tube. I never once sat in that tube.  I swam the whole way down the river and just guided Cheryl to whatever bar we all decided to stop at.  They gave out free shots at every bar, and at some point there was spray painting on our bodies. We only got through 3 bars along the river before we broke the cardinal rule: Do not go into the water when it is dark out.

It was like Titanic in that river. A bunch of us floating and swimming down the river in the pitch black of night, and the water becoming so shallow at some points that the rocks were just cutting up our legs and butts.  Plus, not a single one of us was sober. What a bad idea. We got out of the water eventually and hobbled our way to a tuk-tuk to get back home so we could shower and go out again. Absolutely ridiculous. A spring breaker's paradise to say the least, and I was so sad to leave this morning while all my friends got to stay behind and do it all over again.

I am now in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It's a pretty lame capital, but I haven't heard anything amazing about from anyone. I needed to come here so I could catch a flight tomorrow morning to Phenom Phen, Cambodia.  No pictures to post from tubing, although that's probably better. People did have cameras though, so it's going to be interesting once those get posted. haha.

Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the summer sun! xx