"Tubing" the Mekong

It didn't take long being in South East Asia to realize that there was a sort of rite of passage one had to do to be considered a true SEA "Backpacker." This could be found right outside the small town of Vang Vieng in central Laos on one of the dirtiest rivers in the world, the Mekong. No matter what country you are in in the region, its hard to go a single day without seeing someone walk past wearing a "In the Tubing" tank top. It was also nearly impossible to have a conversation with a fellow backpacker without it coming up..."Have you done it? When are you going?" So needless to say, I couldn't wait to get there!

Leah and I set out from Luang Prabang in the afternoon for what was supposed to be a 6 hour journey to Vang Vieng. Another 3 landslides, 18 hrs, and a night spent in a minivan later...we made it in at about 7am. We had been told to stay at the hostel Spicy Laos, so we headed straight there. It was made up of 3 or 4 big huts crammed with bunkbeds, a big covered hangout area, outhouses with showers and mirrors and sinks attached to a tree. It definitely was not luxury, but we realized pretty quickly why it was so popular. Immediately upon arrival we met a huge group of people that we would end up becoming good friends with. Originally, we were going to pass on tubing the first day and see some of the natural attractions around the area. But after a looong night in a minivan it didn't take much encouraging for us to be persuaded into joining in with everyone else! Before we knew it we were the proud owners of our own "In the Tubing" tank tops, covered in red motorbike spray paint, and in the back of a pickup truck on our way to the river!

All Painted Up!

Spicy Laos group ready for some tubing

Heading to the river!

When you get to the river, there are three bars right at the beginning that can be reached on foot. Most people don't ever touch a tube the entire time they are there or make it past these first three bars. Upon arrival, you are herded onto a little boat attached to a zip line and taken across the river to the first bar. As the day progresses the crowd migrates back across the river to the next one where there is a zip line out into the river, dancing, and if you were with our group...human pyramid building!

Attempt #1

Round 2

Semi Success!

And we're down

As the day goes on the crowd moves on to the last bar that can be reached by foot where the dancing continues until the sun goes down!

The YMCA

Monica and I

 

This is what our first two days on the river consisted of. By our third day, we felt like we should at least touch a tube at some point while we were supposedly "tubing." So four of us went and rented some and headed out for our final day on the river. We started out at the usual spots, but didn't stay too long so that we would have plenty of time to make it all the way down. As you head down the river, there are loads of tiny shack bars being held up on stilts along the banks. All you have to do is wave to one of the locals on the shore and they throw out a long rope with a coke bottle on the end for you to catch and they reel you in! Each bar as some kind of activity to entice you in...a giant slide made out of bathroom tiles named the "death slide", giant wooden doors attached by rope to a tree to "surf" the river. We only stopped at a couple of them cause the sun was chasing us out of the river. After about 45 mins of tubing and it getting dangerously close to dark we started to panic a bit that we had missed the turn off and were headed for Cambodia! But, right as it was getting dark we saw a break in the river and little kids running out waving us in...who we later found out only wanted to try to rob us! We made it all the down and out of the river in one piece and managed to ward off the vultures after the $2 we had left in our "water proof" bags! I was really glad we did the tubes our last day. It was a good mix up and we got to really see the unbelievably beautiful surroundings that had been missed the two days before!

I see why this has gotten so popular with young backpackers...it was one of the highlights of the Asian leg of my trip, and I even contemplated going back for round 2 with my friends Natalie and Ryan who are there now!! But, three full days of fun was enough for us and we jumped in with the Taxi boys to re-enter civilization!