Fast forward a week and I’m in beautiful Laos… admittedly I knew very little about the country before arriving and that’s just the reason I wanted to go. A lot of backpackers seem to skip past this gem on their tours of Southeast Asia and I can tell you now that they’re really missing out!

It has the whole package… looks… personality… a quality Irish pub! (big shout out to Gary’s Irish Bar and their incredible toasties)

The calmness of Laos was exactly what I needed after an incredible but hectic month spent in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Away with the busyness, car horn orchestras and almost being run over 50 times a day… and in with chilled out walks to get breakfast, big sandwiches & fresh fruit shakes for dinner in the night markets, and the infamous river tubing.

After a quick pit stop in the capital, Vientiane, I set out the next morning. Destination: Vang Vieng! A quaint little town in the north of the country… well… quaint during the day at least. I’m talking sighting seeing, viewpoints, and mountain ranges that seem to follow you wherever you go.

Make it to sunset though, and it’s much more Night at the Museum as the entire town bursts to life! Backpackers flood out of their hostels and into a few great bars throughout the town! If you’re heading this way, check out Nana Backpackers – they have a great pool, and also swap out the free breakfast you’ll pick up at most hostels for 2 hours of free vodka and rum EVERY NIGHT (that makes some people think braids are a great idea)! Needless to say it was a tipsy week.

After you’re done punishing your liver at the hostel and they kick everyone out of the bar, move on to Sakura. You may have to experience this first hand to believe it but you also get about an hour of free mixers there too… yes, really! They play classic club anthems and you’re bound to have a laugh. If you’re still going after midnight and still standing after all the free booze, you’ll find Viva a little further down the street. There’s nothing particularly special about the place but by this point it’s pretty much the only thing open (besides the resident kebab stand outside it) and a worthy end to the night.

The real treasure of Vang Vieng though is the experience that brings both sides together: River Tubing!

You jump into a rubber ring and float on down Nang Som river, drinking and chatting along the way. There are bars along the river edge though too and this is where it gets interesting – the river is wide! Really… really… wide! So the only way you can get out of the current is to keep an eye out for the rope they throw at you from the bars and hope to god you actually catch it! They actually banned tubing here for a few years because there were about 20 of these bars… and drunk people + rapids = bye bye drunk people. Now there are just a few bars, but the day is still very much one to remember. Just take a look!

The next bar was next to some serious rapids! I watch as a guy throws the rope out to me and it doesn’t even occur to me that I could miss it, but it only just reached and my heart was pounding wandering where on earth I might have ended up if it hadn’t! After making it onto dry land we played volleyball, drank shots, played a brutal game of musical chairs using the rubber rings and caught a zip-line into the river! What a day and what an addition to the ever growing list of weird ways to party in Southeast Asia!

Talking about weird partying, here’s one of me just casually jumping through the Eye of Sauron…

Catch you on the next one for more Laos adventures in backpacker favourite Luang Prabang!