Tubular Tubing

"Could life get any worse?" I'm asked.

"I would much rather be in a cubical," I respond.

Guffaws followed by a clinking of Beer Lao bottles as we continue to float in tire tubes down a bar-lined tributary of the Mekong

Vang Vieng is described in the Lying Planet (Lonely Planet) as a "traveler's paradise." The place is loaded with white faces and enough booze to last well into the next century. Signs advertising Ecotourism, Elephant Riding and Internet with Skype line the streets. Where there isn't a restaurant serving an unhealthy portion of Friends from blaring TV sets, there are guesthouses in fierce competition for the foreign dollar. This drives the daily price of a room to 30,000 kip or about 3.50 USD.

Our tubing adventure is Vang Vieng's main attraction and has also been described as a a rite of passage for all SE Asia backpackers. The idea is to drink as much as possible without drowning. Fifty meters from the put in point is the first bar. It is the rainy season and the flow of the river is rather fast, so the locals "pole" you into the restaurant with long pieces of bamboo.

After climbing a steep bank via a rustic, if not fear inducing, bamboo ladder you are at the bar with the local purveyor pushing a shot of local whiskey your way. This, you remember, is the first bar and there is still another 2.95km of river to float down. But, the whiskey is a nice start and is a quick builder of confidence for the rope swing.

In order to use the rope swing, one climbs an erratic contraption reminiscent of Swiss Family Robinson. It is high and, try as I might, cannot put high school physics out of my mind, as I know I will be letting go of the swing from this height at the other end. As you swing through the air, you wonder were the apex of the swing will be, because you don't want to be one of the people who hangs on, or worse, let go on the return swing and becoming intimately acquainted with the river bank. The splash is big...and it hurts. I tried a can opener and today the left side of my body is quite sore. Though at the time, you see, it was spectacular and impressive to the floating onlookers that couldn't pull themselves to climb from their tubes.

After a volleyball match with a bunch of drunken Israelis (today is their New Year, I am told) and the onset of dusk, we had to float rather quickly to our take out point. We are, as most people, late for our scheduled return and loose a nice chuck of our deposit. Though it is no matter, tubing was amazing and despite the high number of people "on holiday" (read: Australian and English folk) everyone was civil and we had a spectacular time.

Tomorrow I push on to the Capital, Vientiane and after extending the visa, head south to Si Phan Don to 4,000 islands. Yeah, I know Laos is landlocked. These are river islands!