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Other entries in Vang Vieng

Vang Veing, or should that be...

....Friends and Simpsons, played at fairley distorted levels in the center of town whilst dinners are relaxing back on cushions and eating pizza, after a hard days drinking on the river. Or, the alternative films starting at 7pm every eveing. Taken straight from Thai guest houses, did I partake in this multi-media in fraction on dining, well, may be! 

I started asking around for what rivers the tour companies had avalible and all they could offer was grade 1-2. When I found another company with offices spread over the country they said they had a river that was grade 2-3 near LuangPrabang, may be 4 if it rains, 7hours further north, the original river in that area, with grades 4-5, had had a HEP dam built across it, and so they were no more.

"I am all in favour of renewable power and energy, but there comes a limit when its right on top of the White stuff."

The next day I headed out on the river for the main attraction of the area, tubing. The river is fairley flat with only a few ripples, but the main attraction is the giant swings, zip wires and high jumps dotted all the way down the river. All free when you buy a BeerLao, or Pepsi, for those T-Totalers of you out there, and here. They start off small and get increasingly bigger as you drift down. By the 5th bar most people are well on the way to being drunk and making more radical moves on the swings. Head first dives, sommasults and upside down dangalings. A great day out, I would really recommened it, just shame about the aching arms from a days swinging. When we got back to Vang Vieng it was dark and we were rescued by some children from the river bank to bring us in to their bars.

The climbing here was supposed to be good, similar to Yang Sho in China and Krabi in Thailand, so I thought I would investigate some of the local craggs. After a 20km motorbike ride north out of Vang Vieng we left the road and headed across paddy fields in to the jungle to find some amzing khasts. The valleys here are dead flat across the bottom and then the Khasts ascend 500+m with jungle covered slopes. We started off top roping an easy 6C, and then a 6B, after they almost killed me I ask for something a bit easier and went for a 6 instead. Its really difficult climbing in 100% humidity when you have no grip with your hands and the chalk runs straight off because of the sweat. At the base of the craggs whilst belaying we were being attacted by bees, flies and biting spiders, so we lit some mozzy coils, which had no effect in the outside, so tourched some leaves instead, just the trick, into making your belayers choke and cough. When the guides, (and me,) had run out of energy for climbing, we jumped back on the bikes and headed to a food market, with strange things in bottles, b-b-quing bits of goats on open fires and live things in cages. For the middle of a jungle the only intresting things were the tortoises. I didn't eat any as they were still fresh, very fresh, as in wriggling.

The next day I jumped on a bus to head for Luang Pra Bang and, hopefully if it rains, some good rivers. If not I will have to wait for norther Thailand and to get back to Nepal.

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