Vang Vieng and a tale of tubing

Laos really has some of the best place names. Vang Vieng is a tiny travellers hangout. There is no significant cultural reason to visit the town. It has grown as an important stop on any backpackers tour of South East Asia because of one thing, tubing. I'm not sure how this started out, but Vang Vieng is beside a river and someone decided what better way to spend a day than floating on a giant inner tube, stopping at makeshift bars along the way, eventually arriving back in the small, welcoming town of Vang Vieng.
I met a girl from Warrington Jenny (again not far from my hometown), on the bus from Luang Prabang, so myself Jenny and Aretha all checked into a hotel together. I was glad to have such great company, I don't think Vang Vieng would be any fun on your own. Sarah and Jodi (who I originally met on the cookery course in Chiang Mai) where already in town, so we arranged to go tubing together. We also managed to meet up with three Irish girls Aretha had been travelling with.
First though we had a day relaxing. Vang Vieng is famed for its restaurants and bars that show episodes of Friends, continually. You can walk down the small main street and hear any character from any number of episodes sprouting dialogue. Yes it gets annoying after a while. Thankfully we found a restaurant showing Family Guy (Kev - I take back what I said, I see why you like it so much) and settled in for the night.
The Lonely Planet's advice for tubing is simple, don't get off your head and you'll be okay. I like that simple, concise advice.

The view from the back of our hotel.

We were all concerned when we were assigned numbers, which where then drawn onto our hands. Was this to identify us when our bodies were dragged from the river?

Numbered and ready to go, if a little nervous...

We set off in a tuk-tuk, Sarah and I volunteered to hang onto the back, as it looked like fun.

Holding on to the tuk-tuk with my giant arm!

Standing (l-r) Jodi and Sarah, sitting (l-r) Jenny and Aretha - all ready to go.

The river looked quite fast moving, but once your on the tube you realise it isn't and by the end of the day it couldn't have felt slower. The river isn't very deep, as the wet season hasn't kicked off yet.
As well as bars along the river, there are also huge rope swings and platforms to jump off.
We had a really good day, but found the last bar is just too bar from town, we floated (very slowly) for about minutes before we reached the end. There must be about bars, but as no maps are provided it's hard to know when to stop. Towards the end, without any bars or music is possible to appreciate some of the amazing scenery, it reminded me of Peru, mountainous and green.
Vang Vieng also has a lot of bucket bars, they inventively sell buckets of alcohol. I had a great time in Vang Vieng and it was largely due to the people I spent my time with.

Back on dry ground