Vientiane and Vang Vieng – 26th May to the 1st June

Hey there, so present Hugo here. Coming to you from a bus in Malaysia. Since writing the last blog, where we were in the South / centre of Laos, I’ve realised I’m a mammoth 12 blogs behind. Shit, 13 including the place I’ve just left. I’m two countries behind, and need to take drastic action to catch up.

So, I’m gonna group some places together and be far more brief. Perhaps even more of a bullet point style mission-report. Basically out are the pros and up the lazy writing.

Vientiane

Following our tour of the Thakhek loop Jon, the french couple and I took a night bus to the capital of Laos – Vientiane. Before we get there I have to mention the bus ride quickly. It was a good job we’d become friendly with Alex and Charlie (the aforementioned frenchies) as we were all assigned the bed at the back of the bus. To be honest this was way better really. You have the whole width of the bus split between four without losing any space to the middle-aisle (the rest of the bus is a 2×2 layout but with an aisle so significantly less space). We piled in and we’d all just about got comfy when Jon started to have an absolute mare. Firstly he knocked over his bottle of water spilling across both his and my side of the bed. We mopped it up no problem. Then not two minutes later he tries to pull the clearly decorative curtain down, which to be fair did come down – in its entirety. So after a lengthy period of us all trying not to laugh to avoid waking even more people on the bus, we fixed it and I finally got some sleep.

Arriving in Vientiane we had low expectations, everyone had told us there’s not much to see and it’s just a ‘big’ city. Big here means just shy of a million people. Jon and I stayed at the newly opened Nana’s hostel. This one Jon’s choice, based on a recommendation and a very generous happy hour. I can’t remember much about Vientiane, which I partly attribute to the happy hour.

We did a bit of exploring, I think, but mostly recovered from the tyring few days we’d had. However, we made some friends which we’d meet loads more as the weeks went on: Billy a lovely Irish soul, and Liv another lovely soul but from Dubai. The happy hour was 7pm to 9pm – free whiskey and free vodka. You just hold your cup up and they fill it as high as you want. I think they make their money on the mixers here, but I mostly opted to go straight. So as you can imagine we got pretty drunk. The next afternoon Jon turns to me, looking a bit pale, and I ask him whats up. He tells me one of the girls text him and is about to send the photos from last night. “There are photos?!?!” I exclaim. I was one step behind Jon on processing that fact. However, there are some gems in there including a fair few videos. Once we got pretty drunk, Jon and Billy decided to try some prickly heat spray. It’s this spray locals use to keep themselves cool. I didn’t try it, but was told it kinda tingles and stops them from getting hot or something. Anyway, boys being boys Jon and Billy both try it. And both also apply it in some questionable places. I’ve pulled together a bit of a drunken montage from the aftermath.

I think then moistly in Vientiane we did some admin etc, but nothing too exciting. Oh well me and Jon were both running low on socks and pants so we bought some at a market and split them. The pants are going strong but the socks, haven’t proved to be the best quality.

Vang Vieng

Ah Vang Vieng. The party capital of Laos, which is saying quite a lot. Here I fell into the Vang Vieng hole and struggled to escape somewhat. It was a bloody hoot, but just one that was not so good for me. A great time yes, but perhaps not what I came travelling for.

That said, it’s also an absolutely lovely spot with some stunning things to do in and around the area. But before we get onto any of that, let’s break down a night out in Vang Vieng.

Things kick off at the original Nana’s hostel (the one in Vientiane being their second branch). Happy hour was once again two hours of free whiskey and vodka. So every night I was there for at least an hour, knocking back a cup of whiskey or two and knocking down balls playing pool.

At 9pm, once the happy hour was done, it was a short walk to the next bar which offered free mixed drinks until 10pm. Weak as anything but still free. This was my least favourite bar, thankfully it was just an hour here.

That’s the end of the happy hours, but Gary’s Irish bar was the next stop. Here you would once again find me at the pool table, or the bar I guess. We’d have a beer or two here, maybe have a boogie and then move onto the final bar of the night.

Jay Dee’s is where the nights played out to their end. Another bohemian sort of bar with a relaxed / trance-y vibe. Here they sold drinks but also had another menu which was more popular. I loved this bar, it was chill and not too loud, but energetic and lively. Very good vibes all round. There was a pool table however, by this point in the night I wasn’t the most sober, so the pool took a back seat.

A little aside here on the ‘happy’ menu. So it was quite an extensive list written on a bit of cardboard and just floating around the front of the bar. But the ‘ketamine’ was a particularly popular choice with everyone else. But there were rumours that this wasn’t actually K. It had the nickname Methamketmaine.

We stayed for four nights, all of the evenings blur into one but I did have a great time. Albeit not a sustainable time.

One other night stands out because I was on form playing pool. From Nanas, to Gary’s to Jay Dee’s I was unstoppable. I was playing some ambitious shots and they were all coming off for once. I was like a mini-celebrity that night, people coming up to me and telling me they liked my work. Or well something like that. There was one wobble. We were in Gary’s playing doubles. My teammate and I were way ahead on the black, and the other team maybe had five stripes to go. It’s their shot but they get a ringer to play it. No big deal I thought. He then proceeds to very confidently pot the five challenging stripes. My time flying untouchably was over and all of a sudden I was facing imminent defeat. He’d sunk some tasty shots, and had left himself a lovely angle on the black into the corner. I don’t know if it was the pressure (there was a fair audience) but he misses this absolute sitter. We did win, but I decided that was my last game for the night.

Again the evening details are blurry but we had a good time. Billy and Liv were with us most nights, and we met Harry and Hatty, a northern couple who we became good friends with – among lots of others.

During the days, not the mornings obviously, we explored the surrounding areas. In particular there were some stunning view points. One of which is likely the most famous in Laos, as at the top there are a couple of motorbikes you can sit on and get a touristy but stunning photo.

One day Liv and I took a scooter out. Well I guess Liv took a scooter out, and I came along for the ride. She said the only person she trusted to drive her was her, so I was the designated passenger princess – a position I do quite like. I can’t remember our destination, as we encounter a proper storm. Rain thrashing down, thunder and lighting. Winds blowing. We found some shelter and watched the kids slide up and down the street in rain. Despite finding shelter it was far too late and we were soaked. Eventually we turned around, but credit to Liv, I’m not sure I would have kept the bike on its wheels in those conditions.

The town was surrounded by mountains with a river running through it and one of the other things to do there was to take a hot air balloon ride (ideally at sunset) to get some breathtaking views of the mountains. Jon, Billy and I opted to take the much more exciting paragliding option. I must admit I agreed without really thinking about it, but when I arrived at the airstrip and saw both the tiny bit of grass being used as a runway and the vehicles (which looked like stripped back go-karts with a giant fan strapped to the back) I had a moment of doubt.

It kinda boggled my brain that parachutes can generate lift, but they do – I can confirm. Once in the air it’s really peaceful up there. I was pretty much silent throughout the flight, firstly out of fear that this thing would never take off, then out of surprise it stayed in the air, and finally a calm silence. Soaking in the views.

Having now paraglided, I do now have a bit of an urge to jump out of a plane. I’m not sure how A translated into B but there we go.

I knew it was time to leave Vang Vieng. It was likely a day or two too many really, but we had a good time.