Vang Vieng

Or, "how NOT to let a town develop in SE Asia." It's infamous for backpacker partying, TV bars with American sitcoms and of course, tubing.

To be totally honest with you, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Yeah, the town itself with the tv bars was a total hole and not Laos, but the scenery really is breathtaking. There's a reason folks started coming here in the first place! I woke up early and rented a bicycle. Sitting well in order to smite the sounding furrows, I quickly realized that city bicycles were no match for rocky back country roads. I soldiered on for a beautiful ride through villages set among massive limestone mountains. I dodged puppies, chicks, children and cows until I reached my destination only 7km away - Poukam cave.

Never really fancying myself the adventurer, I approached the cavern with some trepidation. The climb up had me scampering over rocks and trees until I was too high to look down. Inside, the cave opened up into two HUGE rooms with gorgeous rock formations. There was even a Buddha set up for contemplation. I chickened out of squeezing into any of the back rooms though when I heard others say it was too difficult.

On the way back I cycled past a couple of women by looms making scarves. Unable to resist, I stopped and bought a cotton scarf and a silk scarf. I watched one of the women sit at the loom and thread the rocket back and forth.

I also stopped for some cheap noodle soup with chicken. There's nothing quite like eating with chickens and puppies underfoot :). The kids too loved standing thirty feet away and making faces at me. One little boy stood tall and through air punches at me. When I returned with a kick he giggled and ran away. Defeated!

Refreshed, I ducked into another cave. There was a ten or twelve year old by the entrance that served as my guide. If I thought the last path up was hard, then this was terrifying. I had to channel my inner child's fearlessness to believe this was a good idea. Oh, but the cave was worth it. The stalagmites and stalactites were huge and strange. Some were shaped like tentacles, and others like elephant ears. Some stretched up up up like whale's ribcage.
The boy then gestured me down into a small hole. I swallowed hard and reminded myself that I may never be in Vang Vieng exploring caves again. Down into the rabbit hole, up into another massive 'room.' I slipped and slid only to see the floor twenty feet away was a steep 45 degrees down as far as the eye could see. Well. That was going to be it for me! The little boy looked disappointed but I could not imagine how anyone could get back UP such a decline. Nevertheless, the formations were again stunning, and I stood panting and sweating buckets just to look for a long while.

The guide moved down the mountain so very quickly that I could barely keep up. I practically slid down propelled only by adrenaline. I think I deserved my swim in the gorgeous blue lagoon at the bottom!

And if that's true, then after the dusty bike ride back I deserved my tubing trip. I went at possibly the latest time to finish before dark, so I dodged most of the craziness. After I drifted past the bars (~45 minutes) it was just my tube, the lazy river and limestone karst kissing the horizon.

Simply spectacular.

Katie