Day 165 – Vang Vieng
Tubing and View Points
Today we were going to meet up with our new travel buddies from Aus. We agreed to meet up at Yellow & White Tubing (Close to Wonderful Tours on Google Maps) at opening time which is 9am. At least 4 people are required for a free trip to the drop off point, which was perfect for the 4 of us. The tubes rental costs 60,000 LAK / $9.85 AUD per person and just needs to be returned before 5pm. We would be Tubing down the Nam Son River 🙂
We were dropped on the Nam Song River with our tubes and left alone. We just got into the tubes and relaxed. Within one minute we were all loving the experience. The water is calm for most part and takes you at a steady pace. Its also crystal clear and not really deep. There are areas where the water becomes really shallow and I was lifting my bum in the tube, just to avoid it hitting the rocks.
Also there are other kayakers and local boats, which are usually friendly and can be controlled so they avoid us. Several bars are scattered along the river bank. We were planning to stop at one, but when we stopped, just our luck, it was closed. After a few hours, we were still enjoying the tubing, but the sun was starting to beat down on us, with no shade to protect us in the middle of the river. I recommend covering up.
All in all, it was an amazing experience and I would gladly do it again. Oh also I dropped my GoPro into the water. Luckily the water wasn’t deep and I was able to stop by grabbing a rock, and then walking back upstream to find the camera.
After lunch, we walked to a view point called We Went Big Phangern. Entry to the view point was 10,000 LAK / $1.64 AUD per person. There was an hour of climbing. The other couple, were way fitter than us and kept waiting for us, which was nice of them. While walking to the viewpoint down the main road a dog started following our group, which really reminded me of the early hikes we did in Sri Lanka. After while though the terrain was really rough and the dog stayed behind.
At the top of the view point, we were rewarded with amazing views of the surrounding area. We could see hot air balloons getting ready to take off, for sunset rides, which I am sure would be amazing. We stayed up here for a while chatting and taking photos. Once we were about to descend, to our amazement the dog came to the top, following another bunch of tourists. We left the view point and walked back into town using the torch light from our phones as the sun had started to set.
We then went into town and tried some Korean BBQ from a place called Banking Grilled Grilled Pork Duck and Chicken….well at least that’s what the sign said. We actually ended up asking some Korean tourists for recommendations which were nice. However, most of the options had sold out. We ended up going for round two at a neighbouring BBQ place where the food was even better. We said goodbye to our new friends and headed back to Many Riverside Guesthouse for our final night in Vang Vieng.
