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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Tubing Down the Nam Song River (Readers [Mom] Beware!)

The small town of Vangvieng in Northern Laos is a magnet for tourists from every corner of the world. The reason: tubing down the Nam Song River, a tributary of the Mekong River (I think). For 55,000 kip (or $6.87) and the down payment of 60,000 kip (or $7.50), which is insurance on bringing back your inner tube (you get it back as long as you return before 6:00pm or else you get fined 20,000 kip (or $2.50) from your down payment, you can rent the spare tire of a tractor and get a free tuk tuk ride down to the river. Once you get down to the river, you are immediately met by plenty of fellow foreigners and a bar ready to hand you a free shot of whiskey and a buy one get one free bucket (Yes. A bucket of alcohol). That's a pretty good way to start off a very, very "safe" trek down the river.

As you float down the Nam Song, you are greeted by what cannot be accurately depicted in a photograph. It is something you need to see for yourself, so I will merely try to explain it in words. As you float down the Nam Song, you are greeted by giant wall (almost obelisk-like) of rocky mountain covered in patches of green with visible caves towards the top. The river is wide and the mountains are daunting, yet beautiful. You cannot believe the romanticism that you are living in.

There are about ten or eleven bars lining the river. About every 100m, a local (or fellow tourist) will throw a half-filled water-bottle tied to a rope to your inner-tube (sometimes getting close to hitting you in the face) so that you can get reeled in (literally) to the bar. The moment you get there men are treated with Lao bark-treated whiskey or shots of whiskey from bottles filled with snakes, scorpions, or other creepy crawlies and the women are treated to a free drink "for sexy ladies". While tubing down the river, you are constantly deciding when the right moment is to left you back completely onto the tube as at times the water-level is extremely low with rocks sticking just under the surface. Meanwhile, you are being barraged with streams of water from Super Soakers (purchased in the town) by fellow tourists.

The most fun (and most dangerous) part of the ride is all of swings, slides, zip-lines and other contraptions laid at the crux of each bar. The average zip-line is about 20 ft. above the water with the tallest approximately 35 ft. Of course, this I could not pass up. It was absolutely thrilling, and I would do it again. I have heard this "the tubing" (the "gift shop" t-shirt to buy says, "Vangvieng: In the Tubing") is a rite of passage for backpackers backpacking through Southeast Asia. There was also an inflatable "blob" which you jumped onto and stopped at the very edge until someone inevitably jumps into the middle and sends you flying into the river. Now, all of these things are of course very dangerous as there have been a few reported deaths in the past five years. We were very careful (we were very careful, Mom). My fellow companions were filled with worry in the hours leading up to the adventure as we witnessed many hobbling and ace-bandaged tourists. One only had one shoe.

At one point, we met up with a group of travelers (who most had just met only 20 minutes earlier) from Canada, Sweden, Norway, and the U.S. (Phoenix to be specific). We ended up together for the last leg of the trip and met up at a restaurant in town and spent the next part of the night together. All in all, the trip down the river was an unforgettable one and hopefully, one day I'll return.

These pictures were NOT taken by me as I was not confident of the water-proofness of my purchased bag. It was a good decision; the money got wet.

Hope all is well (as I am in one piece),
Talk to you soon,
Garrett

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