Zelma’s Trip

Having moved to a more pleasant riverside abode I settled in, chatted to a guy from Australia who had emigrated to Vang Viang and went and got some food. That evening I met my next-door neighbour who took me over to the bars on the other side of the river. After a shared bucket or two (cocktails are served in buckets – nothing more sinister) we headed back to the bungalows where, when getting pancakes we bumped into a group of people. I decided it was a good plan to stay and chat to them. Okay, maybe to rib them slightly about their somewhat odd conversation about “sandwich parties”.

The remainder of my time in Vang Viang comprised of hanging out with the two Australian guys I had taunted (Matt and Alf) who turned out to be really sound. We chilled out and arguably spent too much time in bars. On one of the latter days we took a tuk tuk to a local cave which we didn’t venture that far into as Matt and I had both wisely worn flip-flops and were sliding about everywhere. At the same place as the cave was the “blue lagoon” which lived up to its namesake, to the extent that questions were asked regarding food colouring! It made for a great place to swim after walking up the mountainside to the cave though.

We also indulged in tubing, Matt for his third time, Alf for his second and me for my first. Alf had cut his foot on his last tubing outing and we discussed if he would be able to partake the night before. In his wisdom he decided that the best way to keep the said toe dry was by putting a condom on it. This had me in fits of giggles but the Aussies seemed to think this a very practical solution. So the next day, condom on toe, we set off on the tuk tuk to the tubing launch site. It was around 2-3pm and we floated down the river stopping off at the riverside bars for the obligatory drinks. When we got to the final bar it was dark and we considered getting a tuk-tuk back. Alf thought that the best plan was to carry on. When you disembark at bars you leave your tubes at the riverside. This meant that, as we were some of the last people to leave, one of the tubes that had been left behind was punctured. There was another group at the last bar but they were very worse for wear so I volunteered to take the flat tube. I thought this would be okay and Matt and I did a kind of tandem figure of eight thing. Ever the gentleman, Matt didn’t paddle at all and I ended up paddling basically all the way back to the town. We eventually got back around 10-11pm!

On the Saturday we got a bus and left Van Viang for Louang Phabang a town further North. When we arrived there was a great suggestion that Alf and Matt remain at a bar whilst I suss out the accommodation so that we didn’t have to lug our stuff all around the town. I willingly obliged and we finally checked into a riverside guesthouse.