Laos: Vang Vieng Tubing 2010

The main attraction of Vang Vieng is the tubing. Now this is really fun. You rent an inner tube for the day and slowly flow down the river with it. The rental price is 55.000 Kip + 55.000 Kip deposit this includes the free tuk tuk ride as the tubing starts at the organic farm 4km away from town.

You can also rent or buy dry bags to fit your t-shirt, flip flops and camera. The rental price is 20.000 Kip / day for a 5 Litre bag alternatively you can buy it for 60.000 Kip in any bazaar. The smallest dry bag which is only good for keeping your money in is about 10.000 Kip. Some dry bags can be faulty so check them out carefully before you buy or rent them.

The best time to go is around 11.00am. Not too many people yet as everyone is still asleep and you will have enough time to do the trip on a relaxed way. The trip takes about 3.5 hours in the dry season and abour 1 hour in the monsoon season. This doesn’t include the “pit” stops in the bars 🙂

Now one thing you should keep in mind that there are only a FEW bars on the way most of them at the beginning. So if you think you can just pass by and find the perfect bar later you are wrong 🙂 Just go and have a drink in each of them. We ended up drinking at the very last bar as we didn’t know that at the last part there is absolutely no bars or restaurants for more than one hour.

Most bars offer free shots of Lao Lao, snake Whiskey and all sorts of local booze. Actually the snake one wasn’t too bad. You can also get all sorts of illegal stuff, like magic mushrooms, weed and even opium. We didn’t try these actually but a French couple reported that the mushroom shake is actually quite OK 🙂

There are many bars where you can jump into the river Tarzan style, be careful with that though as during the dry season the river is not high enough and you can get some serious injuries. We have seen many people with leg and arm injuries walking around in Vang Vieng.

Now some basic facts:
When to go: As early as possible tubing places open at 10.00am and you have to have the tube back by 6.00pm
How long does it take? 3.5 hours in dry season about 1 hour in monsoon season
What to bring: If you have a large dry bag anything you want 🙂 Otherwise just bring cash. There are many people walking around bare feet and in bathing suit in town just to minimize the stuff they bringing with them. Apply a lot of sun cream before you go this will protect you from the sun as it will burn you red otherwise.
How much will it cost: As written above it will set you back with 110.000 Kip including the deposit for the tube + money for the booze and food.
Where can I get out? You can get out half way tuk tuks are waiting for the lazy or drunk tubers. I bet some people just never make it past the 3rd bar. So very likely you can opt out at the very beginning as well 🙂 If you do the full length the best to get out is the top of the island. You can then just walk back to the tube rental place in 5 minutes.