River Riding and Bar Hopping in Vang-Vieng, Laos
River Riding and Bar Hopping in Vang‐Vieng, Laos
Getting off the bus in Vang Vieng, the small town almost seems abaondoned. Walking the streets to find a guest house, each restaurant I pass looks exactly the same as the last one, and the one before that. Substituting tables and chairs for cushioned benches that allow customers to recline in a lying position ‐ facing forwards with all eyes fixed on endless repeats of Friends.
This small town is staking its claim in the backpacking world ‐ with a reputation to compete with Bangkok’s Khao San Road. It’s only accessible by bus and will take you four hours to reach from the Laos capital ‐ Vientiane, and seven hours from UNESCO World Heritage site Luang Prabang. Thankfully this means there are no mega resorts for package‐holiday families.
What attracts the backpacker is the Nam Song River ‐ a freshwater river running alongside Vang Vieng where young people float downstream on the inner tubes of old tractor tires!
At 11am I arrived at the tubing shop, bustling with activity and people signing (dubious) disclaimer forms. Inner‐tubes were being loaded onto tuk‐tuks and the people milling around were buzzing with excitement.
Beerlao is treated with a good degree of national pride. In fact a Lao native once told me that his priorities were, in order, God, Beerlao and then everything else.
After a twenty minute tuk‐tuk ride, we arrived at the starting point of the adventure which coincidently, was also a bar. A couple of Mojitos later and we were at the riverbank jumping into our tubes and setting off down the river. Less than 50 metres down the river we were pulled ashore ‐ to the first bar.
This was a bar in the loosest sense of the word ‐ it was in fact more like a collection of decking on the riverside with a small shack, stocked to the brim with every alcoholic beverage imaginable, the most prominent of which was called Beerlao.
Beerlao is treated with a good degree of national pride. In fact a Lao native once told me that his priorities were, in order, God, Beerlao and then everything else.
While everyone drank their Beerlao and music resonated from the giant speakers, people began to indulge in a spot of rope swinging fun!
I decided I would also partake because after all, when in Vang Veing … I climbed up the ladder to the platform, the nerves jangling in my stomach and I swung…
I chose, incorrectly, to let go at the very end of the swing, so that my body was still swinging upwards as I let go, but then the horrible, ghastly gravity pulled me down.
I landed in the water on my right hip and instantly knew about it. It felt as if someone had thrown me through a window. When I got out the point of impact looked hideously painful, but due to the shock (and the Beerlao) it didn’t hurt. It would though and I later lost the ability to lie on my right side for the next two weeks.
Another float down the river, another bar, more Beerlao and the additional treat of people handing out shots of Lao‐Lao rice whiskey for free followed.
The day continued along the theme of floating down the river only to be pulled into riverside bars at regular intervals for a fresh topping up of Beerlao, until we reached the last bar where a huge bonfire stood proud in the middle of the proceedings. Large amounts of inebriated young people danced around the bonfire like heathens as Beerlao continued its relentless march down the throats of everyone around.
As the sun started to set on the Nam Song everyone grabbed their tubes and crossed a bridge to the waiting tuk‐tuks, chartered to take them back to Vang‐Vieng for a bit of food, a quick sleep and a little late night partying in the bucket bars around Vang Vieng. The next day some would even be off again for another day of tubing.
If I were to sum up Vang‐Vieng, I’d describe it as the greatest bar crawl, or should I say bar float, that I’ve ever been on.
‐ Peter Meehan
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