The underworld

First there was the bus ride. I rarely have trouble sleeping in cars, as a matter of fact they often have a soporific effect on me. The bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng was quite a challenge though. It was steep, extremely curvy, and at times very bumpy too. Then there is the town that is know to all as a tubing destination. I knew that tubing in Vang Vieng was a big deal, but I still couldn't grasp what the big deal was. Okay, it's an innertube, and you get really drunk, what's the big deal. I found out that the big deal is that Laos has extremely cheap whisky (lao lao) and no safety regulations. Within 50 meters of the put in, you pass 5 bars with blasting music and free shots. Not just one free shot to lure you in, but unlimited whisky shots to make sure you never leave. The rope swings and zip lines are the really special thing in my opinion. You start 6 meters over the ground (not always over the water) and swing like tarzan. Depending on which bar you're at you may have a very limited fall zone, where letting go or falling off at the wrong point would land you in very shallow water or no water at all. The lack of safety makes the rope swings especially fun.

The zip lines are just comical. Starting high above the water and accelerating very quickly towards the end that is so abrupt it usually flips the rider off. Most drunk zip liners land head first from about 4 meters up, the lucky ones are flung off so violently that they complete a full backflip and splash upright into the river. The tubing itself is boring, so most people do it once and then just go hang out at the bars on the river and dance, drink, and swing away the afternoon.

It also so happens that Vang Vieng is situated in a beautiful valley surrounded by limestone mountains riddled with caves.

notice the shack on the left for scale

The last too days I have spent my time exploring 6 caves in the area. The coolest one was Than Hoi ( I think). We followed a volunteer guide along a passage for two km of mostly easy walking. There we came across a stream of clear and refreshing water.

Me jumping into the refreshing waters of Blue Lagoon, outside one of the caves.

We waded upstream and then took off our clothes and swam for 20 m to a small and gentle waterfall. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done, and the water and air temperature were perfect as well.

The only downside to an amazing day of caving was that our guide wanted us to pay him $20.- when were were done. We refused, as the average tour guide working for an agency only makes $4.- a day. We gave him a very generous $6.- but he was very upset with us for not paying his price. We talked to some locals at the guesthouse and they said he didn't deserve more than a dollar.
Now you may ask who "we" are. The first two days in Vang Vieng "we" included a german woman who left this morning for Vientien. This morning I got up at 5:30 and ran 4 km out of town to an organic farm where I was to help out with the goat chores. I arrived at 6:30 and helped clean the stalls, feed the goats and give the babies some milk. I intended to help with the milking and cheese making, but during breakfast I met some americans who are longer term volunteers at the farm. They were planning an outing, so I joined them for the day. I got to experience true Lao generosity when the goat keeper let me borrow his motorbike to ride into town and get my stuff so that I could stay at the farm tonight. The intended trip fell through when the local friend of the volunteers didn't show, so we went spelunking instead. It has been an eventful day and I hope to do some more goat work before I head down to Vientien for a new Thai visa.