Day Twelve (22/10/2024): The adventure capital of Laos, but not for us! (Vang Vieng)

As we arrived in Vang Vieng it's hard to ignore the number of backpacker hotels and the number of shops promoting a range of adventure activities. Vang Vieng is renowned for being cheap and being a place for risk-taking!

In 2011 there were 27 deaths by drowning or diving into rocks in a 1km stretch of the Nam Song river. The combination of rice whisky, crazy activities and youth contributed I'm sure. One of the activities is called Tipsy Tubing which says it all really! Going into caves floating on enormous tractor tubes whilst tipsy doesn't seem like a great idea.

Well you might ask: "What the hell are you doing here?!" Even hot air ballooning was not greeeted with cries of enthusiasm!

Vang Vieng does have other attractions fortunately. 

Early in the morning I went for a walk to check out the scenery and the first step was to cross a plank bridge  across the river next to the hotel.

To be honest, I think that equated with a risky adventure activity for me as the planks were not securely fastened. 

To assist the motorbikes most of the bridge had metal strips across the planks but as the motorbikes traversed the bridge the noise was deafening as the planks bounced up and down!

After I survived crossing the bridge I walked aong the river, past the two person boats we were about to go on and looking for a better bridge (there wasn't one!). I was met by a herd of cows/cattle lying across the footpath. It's clearly backpackers heaven as the cafes' menus are in English and even advertise 'Full English breakfast'.

 I managed to get back across the bridge without mishap and after breakfast overlooking the river, Khais arrived. 

We piled into a large Tuk Tuk which required some climbing as the first step was high: that was one of our adventure activites for the day  (Could we get in without falling over or bumping our heads?!) On our return home later in the day the Tuk Tuk driver produced a stool so we didn't need to clamber up!

We arrived at the river and carefully climbed into the sleek narrow boats.  The seats were very low and the boats rocked. I've decided not to include any photos of us alighting or disembarking boats as it's not a pretty sight! Our new local guide Sone was of great assistance.

We sped off down the river marvelling at the beautiful sheer volcanic mountains lining the river, and at the stupidity of tourists who think they can paddle a kayak or canoe for the first time on a river with a very fast current.

It was very enjoyable speeding along with a cool breeze between the mountains leaving the town behind us.

After about half an hour we arrived and managed to get out of the boats and into a Tuk Tuk without any problems. (I'm thinking I should have done a lot more deep squats in the gym as the seats on the boats are only about 6 inches high)

We travelled through the countryside to the Ban Vieng Samai village where both Khmu and Lao tribes live at the base of the mountains. This time it was a much more interesting and enjoyable experience than visiting the mountain tribes, as this was Sone's village. 

He spent time telling us about the local school where ,with the help of volunteers and some small grants the school buildings have been expanded. The kids were all running aound and playing invented games as there was no playground equipment. However this was the first time we'd seen kids playing soccer/football.

Next stop was a house where the local blacksmith repaired knives and made scythes and a range of impressive large knives from scratch using local timber for handles. He used an open fire to get the metal to an appropriate temperature and pumped oxgen to the fire through blue pipes. 

Sone described the same situation that we have heard elsewhere about the lack of interest the next generation show in following in their father'sfootsteps.

Two of his grandchildren watched us with some hesitation. When we asked their ages they were exactly 9 months apart from the same mother!

We walked through the village admiring the sturdy houses and the space they had around them.

A raised garden bed was filled with herbs such as Lao mint basil and tiny micro-mint.

Sone was very infomative about the challenges of being rice farmers and we went into the dry ricefields to watch some harvesting. 

To get to the ricefields we had the joy of climbing over a swing bridge with planks missing and unbearably hot metal rails to hang on to. I was beginning to feel very skilled at surviving rickety bridges.

We staggered through the dry ricefields filled with rice stalks.

One of the farmers was keen for us to help as he thought it was strange for us to watch: lots of laughter all around! They had harvested sheaves of rice and were laying them out in the sun to dry for a couple of days before threshing them.

Apparently the program then consisted of a one hour walk around the ricefields and it would be fair to say we weren't keen.  It was extremely hot and humid and we have seen a lot of ricefields! So we had a look at a field full of bamboo that had been planted specifically for bamboo shoots, as they provided extra income and sold well. And headed slowly back to the house where we were having lunch after again swinging on the bridge.

The heat had been too much for Helen on the way past so we had left her at the house. When we returned looking like beetroots and very sweaty, we found Helen having a massage and looking thoroughly refreshed. 

Rice whisky or LaoLao is very common throughout Laos and this was our chance for one of the two Khmu women (who were cousins) to show us how it is made. She had boiled rice and rice husks for some time and then we helped stir them to cool down. Then sugar cane powder and sticky rice powder were added and the mixture stirred again. Finally she filled a pottery whisky jar pressing all of the dry mixture in to fill the jar, added a little water and sealed the openeing with dried banana leaves and finally clay.

We were thrilled to learn that the whisky jar came from the Ban Chan pottery where we had made our masterpieces. 

It takes seven days for the whisky to ferment and then it can be opened. It only lasts for 6 weeks once opened.

Once our batch was brewing we had a delicious lunch that they had made. Sticky rice ,of course, to be used as scoop to eat with instead of utensils. And eggplant sauce, fried fish, green beans, omelette, fern salad and soup filled with veggies and bamboo shoots. Delicious!

 

The women were dressed in traditional Khmu dress and were happy to be photographed when I told them that Helen, Jenny and I had bought the same jackets for our grandaughters. They asked some questions translated through Sone, as they spoke no English.

Then we finally tasted the rice whisky made two weeks before. The clay seal and banana leaves were removed and water poured into the jar.  After a couple of minutes we were all given a bamboo straw with soft hose attached. The straws were pushed into the mixture and we sucked on the hose: and it tasted pretty good. It was very strong and had quite a tang to it. Then we discovered that it was 60% proof!!!!! Wow!

Fortunately we just had to get into a tuk tuk for the journey back to the Hotel as I'm not sure some of us would have managed the boat!

We'd had a lot of fun so we took some photos of all of us, and thnaked the women warmly.

During our wandering through the vilage Sone described his role in establishing a Youth Project for the village so we went to visit.

Unfortunately during COVID all of the computers and library books dsappeared so resources were few. 

However every day they pick up 42 kids from around the village and countryside and take them to school. The startling feature was that somehow they managed to fit all 42 in one tuk-tuk the same size that we had travelled in!!

After school they run open air English classes, often using volunteers, as there is no English taught in primary school and only one hour per week in secondary school. So over a hundred children are there every day. 

The project survives by occaisional grants from overseas and volunteers who come from everywhere. It just manages to survive by the dedication of people like Sone who was fortunate to learn English and create a career for himself outside of the village.

We immediately decided to contribute enough money to buy one or two computers as they were desperate to get computer classes going again.

After we arrived back at the Hotel we headed for the pool to cool down and had a delightful dinner at the Restaurant in the Hotel, watching the boat traffic traverse the river.

A very thought-provoking and enjoyable day.

your well-heated correspondent

Dianne