Another 7 hrs minivan ride we got to Vang Veing. We read and heard it was a party town but it was also one of the prettiest places in Laos with heaps of outside activities. When I hear party I think booze. Boy were we wrong. There were a few special places that sold pot, but a closer look at the menu, you will find mushroom tea, opium tea and even ice, not for soda. What really meth? No thanks. Lucky for us this place was even crazier 5 years ago and many bars have been shut down. I can't imagine the mayhem.
There's corruption involved, like if u smoke pot at your hostel, they will call the cops. And for $600 you get your passport back and need to leave the country. Really not worth it. We kept hearing stories and warned everyone we met.
We stayed 6 nights at a super cheap, beautiful bungalow just outside the crazy center. It's the longest I stayed in one spot since I left Alaska on 8/8. We visited the blue lagoon and dove in to it with a rope type swing, so much fun. We also went tubbing on the Mekong river, which is more about visiting two bars than being on the water for long.
Such a weird experience to grab on to a plastic bottle tied to a rope that a 10 yr old launched so my white ass can visit a bar by the river. It's so weird being that tourist person and I feel for the locals who see us here ruining their space and culture and they must think we have it all to be wasting it all and they are not wrong to think that.
Another day we walked in the painful sun to visit a famous cave. "Tham Chang is considered one of the most important caves in town because it was a refuge during the Chinese Haw invasion in the 19th century, and home to an entire village seeking protection during the civil war."
The last day we went cave tubing which was a very neat experience. Overall you can party in this spot with just drinks but if you have a good location, you can avoid the craziness. We went out for dinners and I was asleep by 10. One night the cow bells on the property woke me up at 2am.
We did go out dancing one night and that was fun to do something I would have done with my friends in homer and haven't done in a month. Can't do touristy stuff everyday while on such a long trip :) 2.5 months left. Agh.
Many pix links:
Blue lagoon https://goo.gl/photos/u2q9vydWr51bXmUq6
Cave tubbing https://goo.gl/photos/iNCnQT2atQGLKyhk6
Vientiane https://goo.gl/photos/CW622uT7JDcChPkY8
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