Eventually you get on your tube and float. The current is pretty strong at some points so you really don't do much but sit back and take in the beauty of your surroundings. I don't have any photos from tubing because I foolishly entrusted my iPod touch to Brian's not-so-dry bag, but the iPod touch is currently comatose and drying out in a bowl of rice so there's still hope. As you float down the river, there are 30 or 40 different bars that toss ropes out into the river to "reel" in tubers to come and have a drink, or a "happy" shake of some variety...no comment. Anyway, on Day One I was separated from Brian, Cody, and Sam early on and ended up floating down the river by myself for a while, had my inner tube stolen, acquired a pink raft to cling onto at one of the bars, floated some more, had a random Laotian man reel me in and give me a new inner tube, met up with a bunch of Spanish and Italian travelers and built a little island as we all connected tubes and floated. It was after dark at this point, and every bar tries to reel you in and say that they are the last bar on the circuit, but we just kept shouting "Don't worry we're floating to Cambodia!" and whatnot. We did not make it to Cambodia, but were probably a few of the last tubers on the river. I made it back to the guesthouse and connected with Brian, Sam and Cody; we made the executive decision to stay for one more day of tubing.
So we definitely lost Round One. Round Two was a different story. We didn't separate and instead just had an amazing day together on the river, didn't have any electronic devices with us, just basically played things right. Along the way we met up with two British siblings David and Naomi who are the most hilarious people I've met in quite some time. We all floated on together, and after David and Naomi were reeled in, Brian, Cody, Sam and I floated literally to the end of the river. Four little Laotian boys waded out into the river and clung onto our tubes, and then we came ashore and talked to them and were messing around and boxing with them and took pictures with them and all. To say the least...it was surreal. We walked back into town, got some dinner, and met up with David and Naomi at Q-bar. Of course, as fate would have it, I left my digital camera on the table for about 5 minutes and someone snatched it away. Basically I am the luckiest person in the world. But I got over it pretty quickly, woke up today and bought a new waterproof digital camera from a little Laotian market for 1,350,000 kip. Which is about $160. I love the rate of exchange...I'm worth millions in Laos. Anyway, I ran back to town, bought four omelets and iced coffees for the road since I am such a great friend, and we got on a bus, thoroughly satisfied with our Vang Vieng experience.
The unofficial national motto of Laos is baw pen nyang, which translates to something like "no worries". It's a pretty accurate description of the lifestyle here - everyone is just extremely laid back and chilled out. The mindset is quite contagious; even as my iPod Touch was falling victim to the Nam Song and my digital camera was stolen off of a table at Q-bar the next night, I didn't really mind it, and they were honestly two of the best days of my life regardless of the things that I lost. The total damage: iPod, camera, fake Versace sunglasses, many photos and videos...but not my dignity. I love this country - the stunning, natural beauty of the land, the joyful people, the abundance of delicious gluten-free food options (more on this to come)...I love all of it. We've just taken an eight hour bus trip to Luang Prabang and later we're going to meet up with David and Naomi to go bowling. When in Laos.
Location: Vang Vieng, Laos
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