Around the time of the G20 summit, I set out on an outing with our own little G5 to Vang Vieng. With five people from five leading Western nations (Germany, England, France, Australia, USA) exploring in Laos, it was bound to be a cultural experience. The first day we set out from our guesthouse in kayaks. The water level was low, but we were the only ones out and it was quite beautiful and peaceful. As I had not really kayaked before, I partnered with Bertrand from France in the one double kayak while the other three set out in single kayaks. Things were going quite well, until we came to a small rapid with low water levels. Bertrand and I ended up hitting the bottom and eventually capsizing. After expending significant effort to retrieve our boat and empty it of water, I moved to a single kayak and let some other folks try the double. Wise decision on my part, as that double kayak had suffered an injury and began taking on water. The hole grew as did the water problem in the craft. We made it a couple kilometers further downstream before watching the duo in at the time sink suddenly to the bottom of the river. We were reluctantly forced to abandon the double kayak at a guesthouse along the river. The five of us then set out in the remaining three single kayaks--I therefore took to swimming. It would have been fine, except the water level was so low that crossing the rapids in the current was a bumpy, painful experience. As we entered the area where the backpacker crowd was having their drunken, drugged fun, we just watched in fascination. It is amazing that more people don't get injured there than do as it looks like pure stupidity. As evening was approaching, we paddled and swam toward town, but it turned out to be further than we anticipated. The swimmers were getting cold and tired and eventually we hired a boat to take some folks into town. Irwin and I continued paddling. As dusk turned to dark, we had still not arrived at the town and I was thinking new thoughts about stupidity. Irwin and I were quite thankful to see the lights of town and were more than happy to climb out on shore. I think we all slept soundly that night.
The next day we set out on a trek to a cave where there were reportedly rock climbing routes. This turned out to be another adventure as we came across a very, very rickety bridge across the river with not enough bamboo to reliably hold up under a person's weight. Several of us ended up fording the river which was its own adventure. After asking many locals, we finally came across the cave, but did not think it was the cave we were actually seeking. After a lot of pondering, we finally realized that we needed to walk through the 150 m long cave to get to the rocks on the other side of the mountain. As one member of our group was quite claustrophobic, she and I trekked over the mountain. It was a nice view from the top, but I would have much preferred the cool, much less strenuous tunneled route. I think we were all quite amazed when the overland travelers caught up with the tunnelers at the long sought climbing routes. The fried rice our guesthouse owner had prepared for our lunch was very welcomed, even if it did leave its grease all over several of the backpacks. I watched the climbers do their thing and then we set out in reverse. We all went back through the cave and traversed with locals who led the way with their flaming torches. It was quite an experience. We all forded the river on the way back, but this time, I slipped and end up walking back in a very wet state. Again, we were quite relieved to make it back to the guesthouse, but it was that good kind of tired after a wonderful adventure.
