Tubing and Pii Mai

After arriving in Vang Vieng, having heard lots about the infamous tubing experience, we concluded there was no decision to be made. However, with the water level so low at the time, we opted for tubing sans tubes and headed out to Bar #1. After a cooling beverage we hopped into the river and floated down stream where we were met by Jake from the Joker Bar with a shot of Thai whiskey (uughhhh!). Tubing is really just a series of MTV-esque pontoons and beach bars along the rivers between which increasingly jolly tourists float along! Its not exactly horizon broadening but man is it fun! Zip lines from which nutcases do impossible backwards somersaults and even bigger nutcases do belly flops, trapezes and diving platforms make for some seriously entertaining viewing.  It took me a while and a few Beer Laos to get up the courage to give it a whirl.  I was slightly less interesting than the guy who somersaulted, raised his hat the crowd and blew a kiss, before tucking in and hitting the water, but I was proud of myself!!!  A few hours later, after bobbing bum first down some fairly shallow rapids (ouchy!), a few beers and some cheesy chart music, we saw the dark clouds on the horizon and headed for a truck back to town, reaching cover about 10 nano seconds before the heavens opened - Beautiful timing!

Having had our fill of Vang Vieng, we moved on to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, where we were to spend Pii Mai, the Laos New Year. Anxious (well I was) about not getting accommodation, we were lucky that some friends had arrived the day before so we managed to get a room in their guest house. Unfortunately, we shared our room with some other guests, nasty little nippers – bed bugs! Although, it seems ours was not the only accommodation venue with additional guests – quite a number of people we had met were in the process of moving hostel. 3 months in and we have our first bed bug experience, it could be worse!!!

P ii Mai started quietly, in an apparently deserted Vientiane, but it gradually ramped up to a crazy, street dancing, waster pistolling, bucket soaking, dye throwing crescendo. After a day and half spent running around the streets like commandos, dodging talcum powder and food colouring bombs, possessed and heavily armed tourists and dancing and drinking beer with lady boys, we finally headed for the bus station and our trip to Pakse – Sabaidie Pii Mai!