PART 2: KARST CENTRAL

18-19 July 2013. Days 2 & 3 of 15. 
Vang Vieng LAOS. 
Overnights in Vang Vieng LAOS. 

Vang Vieng (Pop 30,000) has significantly advanced my gut feeling that Laos will turn out to be my favourite place in Indochina! What a geography. What an irony. We arrived here on the afternoon of 18 July and left first thing in the morning on 20 July. Nestled amongst jagged, cloud licked, limestone peaks (karsts) with the fast flowing "Nam Song" river licking its side, Vang Vieng is certainly a natural wonder. The irony comes from many younger tourists going "nuts" on cycling, kayaking, caving, mountain climbing, hot air ballooning and above all - boozing and partying.

Our 3.5hr drive from Vientiane, arriving 5:30pm was very scenic. Most of us slipped in a much deserved kip along the way - "kip" is not only a quick sleep but the currency of Laos! After a brief petrol, pee and pepsi stop we were soon confronted by magnificent scenery and the result of the pepsi swirling its way out quicker than expected as a result of the twists and curves of the upward mountain roads - we had in particular one guy and one gal busting to go to the toilet and nowhere to stop. The gal held. Strong is the female willpower. The guy however is a different story. So in classic adventure style, the guy EVENTUALLY pisses into a bottle on the mini-bus. What a bloke. Lets call him "Cecil" to protect his real identify. Have no idea why. I am supremely proud of him. It is quite an achievement to rouse up the courage (and control) to ignore the many pairs of scrutinising eyes and jabbing wise-arse remarks to overcome the so-called "performance anxiety" and do what must be done. Get relief. And get it fast. I ought to know. I went through the same dilemma and came out as victorious as "Cecil" when I had to piss in a bottle in front of 30 people on a small speed boat visiting an island off the coast of Ecuador in 2011. Get over this and you can get over any socially unacceptable situation!

Our hotel in Vang Vieng couldn't have come fast enough for the gal in this comic situation. She rushed out and the rest filed in to drop back packs and gather up quickly for a sunset drink and dinner on the "Nam Song" river, running up the whole side of town. What a place. A timber deck behind one of the hotels perched over the river and a like a whole side of lamb, the limestone karsts rose up like ribs, pointy and laced in puffy clouds. What a site and what a bite! Vieng Vang chilli veggies alongside grilled whole fish with herbs and green chillies and the scene was set for some of the most stimulating political conversation this side of the Mekong!!!

The central point - I realised that Australia was staring down the barrel of "three Prime Ministers in a single calendar year"... after explaining this to my my British counterparts, particularly Barnarby, Jack and Cedd, (one of these guys is about to study Uni Politics), the conclusion was that this had never happened in Britain or the world EXCEPT Russia in 1917 under the Bolshevik Revolution with the fall of two Tzars and Lenin's rise and death. We even covered the fact that the British Monarchy had never sacked a Prime Minister after I mouthed off on the Whitlam era. Wow. What a conversation. What a feed. What a view. A memorable night.

At 8:30am the next morning we were off on our booked tour taking in kayaking, cave tubing and cycling about 17km from town. Cave tubing was the first activity we undertook and involves climbing into a truck inner tube, immersing yourself in a running stream that flows into a cave system and then pulling yourself along a rope fixed on the cave wall. It had rained heavily last night and for several weeks before we arrived, so the water level was so high, that we had to keep ducking to avoid hitting our heads on the stalagmites. We wore a portable flashlight on our heads so we could see in the darkness of the cave. For the first time the water was cool and flowed very fast. After 20min in the tube we arrived at a large inner cave and climbed out to see an elephant carved into the rock, representing "Ganesha" one of the shared Buddhist/Hindu deities that I first mentioned in Cambodia.

The return trip in the tube was much faster since we went with the stream. Once out of the cave we sat down to an early lunch of BBQ skewered chicken with mango, onions, squash and tomato. This gave us the necessary fuel for our 8km kayaking down the Xong river which flows into the Song next to Vang Vieng. We drove to the half-way point between the caves and Vang Vieng so we could kayak all the way back to Vang Vieng leaving enough time for cycling.

The kayaking was brilliant since it was along a very fast flowing river with rapids and several twists and turns. We were surrounded by limestone "karsts" which look like something out of King Kong. "Karst" is a geological term describing the action of slightly acidic rainwater dissolving softer rock such as limestone to form sharp jagged shapes. Guenther and I quickly moved into first position on the river. Our guide "Dee" was way behind and would scream left or right to tell us where best to go. As he moved up on us, I convinced a reluctant Guenther to cut across a bend to maintain our lead.

The only problem was this bend was full of rapids which form fast flowing waves across the width of the river. We found ourselves side-on to the waves and they toppled our kayak throwing us out! We wore life vests so we quickly popped up and grabbed the kayak whilst holding on to our paddles. Dee was quick to the rescue and held our paddles whilst we tilted our kayak upright and climbed back on board. It was quick and painless. In seconds we were off again in first place. First time I had capsized. Two other kayaks also capsized with good recoveries. The real drama however was at the end.

To get out of the fast flowing river you need to gradually get closer and closer to the left bank and then aim for a landing site just out of the current. Guenther and I got the gold after a last minute challenge from Dee which left us breathless on the bank. Dee and Jenna got silver and Katherine and Amy got bronze. Some minutes later all the other kayaks arrived leaving Jessica and Naomi. They were too far out in the middle and missed the landing site. Dee and Guenther sprung into action and went after them so they did not end up in the Mekong Delta in Cambodia!!! They disappeared from view and 15min later emerged all safe and sound to the cheers of the rest of us. What a finish! We all walked back to the hotel for a quick break and at 2pm walked to the agency to pick up our mountain bikes and ride 30min to the Blue Lagoon.

The scenery along the way was like the kayak - karsts and rice paddies all around with plenty of cows, kids and dogs on the side of road. It started to rain about 5min out which was a great way to stay cool. The Blue Lagoon itself was a bit of fizzer. Very small and green with a million tourists swinging from ropes and jumping off trees like they had never seen water before. The water was nice the tranquility and isolation that enhances the experience was simply not there and not likely to come any time soon - a good reason to go.

I found out later from Guenther that the caves near the Blue Lagoon were something to see - featuring very high, almost Cathedral-like ceilings. I tried to some photos on the way back but the rain got in the way. After a quick change at the hotel I cycled downtown to change money and find some wine. Success. After visiting many stores with very suspect wines, I found one with several Tyrrells 2007 Chardy and a 2008 Cab Sav from Chile for $12AUD each. The blog would be a good one given the plonk!

I rattled four bottles back to the hotel and sat downstairs in the restaurant area overlooking the karst ranges to post the first blog for Part 2 and ring a few people back home. I was releaved that the router was up again (I could not post the night before because it was down and got the shits big time!!). Internet was slow but heck, I had plenty of wine. Guenther joined me for the rest of the bottle, olives and cheese. I offered olives to the owners who were preparing dinner at the time and as I expected,they had never tasted an olive before. The husband did not want to try one but the wife went for it and liked it giving one to her daughter to try - she was not as enthusiastic.

By 6:30pm I was done and I walked down to the riverside bar with Guenther where the rest of the group were enjoying sunset drinks as per last night. After some rousing conversation we picked up and headed into town to try a typical Lao BBQ. You order one or more raw meats or seafood then cook it yourself over what looks like an aluminium "Jupiter 2" with hot coals inside and placed in a cavity in the middle of the table. For those of you who are not fans of "Lost in Space", the "Jupiter 2" is an oval shaped flying saucer.

We also cooked our own vegies in broth which you pour within a ring along the outside of the Jupiter 2. This place did memorable chilli - every imaginable colour, chopped finely in a BIG bowl! I shared a mixed meat and seafood Jupiter 2 with Guenther but it was not filling since the meats were too thin. Some of the group gladly gave up what they couldn't eat to sustain myself and Guenther! Much better but there was some more room so it was back to the hotel to finish off one of my reds and engage in Euro-Australian politics and economics with Guenther.