Vang Vieng day 1

First day in Vang Vieng. There doesn't seem to be a lot to the town itself, it's fairly small and you can probably do a loop of the area with all the main hostels, bars and restaurants in 20 minutes. However it is surrounded by gorgeous mountains, rivers and lagoons, plus there seems to be a lot of outdoor activities to do. I signed up for a lil tour which ticked off three of these activities.
In the morning we did an 1 & 1/2 hours of kayaking down a small river. There were only three of us, so I got paired up with our tour guide which was great, as I didn't have to worry about crashing and barely had to paddle haha. The two guys in the other boat weren't the most athletic shall we say, and kept crashing into the bank or stranding themselves on rocks in parts of the river that were low.
We paddled 7km downstream until we reached a bridge, where we disembarked and were taken into some caves and a walk through a small gorge. We then did tubing down a lil cave which was fun. Unfortunately there was no currant so we had to pull ourselves along with a rope using head torches to guide the way. Our tour guide Duang was very funny, and sang songs as we bobbed down the cave.
Then it was lunch, which wasn't too exciting, egg fried rice and some vegetable skewers. My lunch had only just settled before we were whisked away and harnessed up for ziplining! We climbed over bridges and up steps, and zipped along 8 lines, flying over the caves and river, with some nice views. For the last two lines, the wires were attached to the back of our harnesses so it was an awkward half superman half sitting sorta position through the air, which felt a bit ridiculous.
I got dropped back off at my hostel in the afternoon. I had every intention of doing something else with the rest of my day, but after moving hostels, I promptly had a nap in my lovely private dorm double bed! Treated myself as it was only £8.50 a night!
Had a wander round in the evening, grabbing some food and hitting up a couple of bars.Read more