I woke up a bit later than expected but breakfast was at 7.30 and there was nothing I really wanted to do. I showered had breakfast and went for a short walk along the "river" to the presidential palace and back. I crossed to the travel company and the bus was already there around the corner so I got onboard. The bus filled up by 10am and we headed off taking a detour to get petrol. Around 12 we stopped for lunch at an overpriced place although there was a woman selling street food fairly cheap so I got a sausage to go with my bananas and biscuits. We arrived in Vang Vieng around 2.30 and I walked along the main road which was filled with travel agents, restaurants and hostels and I looked for my hostel but it wasn't where they said so I asked and it was further along. Then I had to queue as other people had got there first and I got a top bunk number 69 with 2 girls sitting chatting on the bunk below. Because of them I rushed my packing transfer a bit and didn't pick up my torch but I did get my umbrella as it was an overcast day and looked like it might rain. I checked a few things like flights online and sent an email to a Vietnam visa company to find out if they could help me before heading out and I saw a temple before going to the river and crossing a small bridge to an island. There was quite a bit of development going on and the next bridge was long and wooden and was used by motorbikes. There were a few bars around on the river and I took a path south towards a cave but the path kind of went through a farm and then I had to wade across a river. The next field had a fence but it also had a gap and that was where the path on maps.me went so I went that way but at the other end there was no gap in the fence so I ended up jumping over the 3-4 foot fence. I was on a proper path now and there were more people and also some food stalls so I grabbed a few gelatinous balls for 5k and took some pictures of the karst hills which were really nice. The cave was 15k to climb the steps and enter and I checked wikitravel which appeared to have a slightly different name and said it was not worth it. Considering how many caves I'd done I skipped it and walked a bit further to a small free cave with a Buddha inside. I climbed up a bit inside with just my phone torch and it was a bit tight but didn't go very far so I left and went across the bridge which it seems is a toll bridge for vehicles at least. I walked into town to a temple and then through the town looking at various shops none of which were particularly cheap. There was another temple which was disappointing before I got back to the hostel. It was around 4.30 and I decided to go north so I got a few things and at the last minute decided to put on my sandals which I soon regretted on the gravel that they had along the road. There were some tourists walking with their backpacks who had probably arrived from Luang Prabang to the northern bus station. I got to the bus station and it was pretty empty and the prices were similar to those in town so not worth it, there was also no food stalls. I headed West then to the river listening to music and there was a beach and a bridge with ziplines and people kayaking and speedboating around. I crossed the bridge where swimmers were jumping off and the bar on the other side said it was the last stop before town. Tubing is still popular here but there is apparently just 2 bars now where once there were 10 or so. I walked through the empty bar and climbed up to a platform where the zipline went but there was no path. I went and tried a different path which was not very good with lumps of concrete and overgrown plants and it came to a bridge and a gate. It didn't look like there was a path there so I walked back across the bridge. On the other side I decided to walk on the river as it didn't look deep and it would make a change from the boring road I'd taken but after a few metres I walked round a tree and sank into mud so that the top of my shorts got wet. I went back and walked along the road until there was a bridge which I crossed and carried on the path there. It wasn't a good path but it had nice views in parts and it took me back to the place with the bars and the island where people were partying a bit with their meals. On the other side I went through what looked an even more touristy area including 2 bars next to each other both showing Friends TV episodes. I got some water and bananas and on my way back people who had done the tubing were walking through town in their swimming outfits and 2 Japanese were taking photos. I went and sat in the hostel for a bit to see happy hour start at 7pm. There wasn't much happening despite the snooker table (missing most of the reds) and the fussball table and they did a bus to Luang Prabang at 8am or 9am for 100k which I was considering as it meant I could submit my visa application at the consulate the next day since they are open until 5pm. I went back through town and people outside a bar said there was free whisky drinks there from 8 to 9 which sounded good but I wanted food so I went to a place near to the hostel and had a chicken curry with rice and a mango shake. The curry was good and the shake was delicious and I still got my hostels wifi from across the road. I went back to the bar with free drinks and got handed a leaflet for another bar that did free drinks from 10 to 11. The first bar had quite a few people there and also had tables set up for beer pong. I talked to a Lithuanian who said there was no alcohol in the drink but I took the whisky with no mixer and there was definitely alcohol. A few groups were playing beer pong with water instead of beer and it was close to 9 so I went back to the hostel and did some research there into China. Somehow I got chatting to a drunk English girl who had lost her things that day but wanted to show me an adorable puppy she called Mickey (like the song, which she sang). She was called Natalie and along with her friend Megan we went to the Viva bar where we had free drinks. I got mine mixed with both coke and lemonade (bartenders choice) and danced a bit with my bag on the floor. Natalie wanted to go back so I went with her and we sat around near the dog with 2 northern girls one of whom had seen that the dogs collar said his name was Hara. Megan came back and Natalie went to bed around 11 and the other girls disappeared somewhere and we stayed up talking politics until 12.
0 Comments
|
|