First day along the Nam Song

More on the kids adventure last night. We were at a restaurant about 50 meters from our hotel, and after dinner we let the kids run off to a nearby stand for a banana pancake. They somehow managed to get lost after getting their dessert and wandered a few blocks the wrong way. They eventually stopped in at a resort lobby to ask for directions, but they couldn't remember the name of our hotel. They did remember it had a pool, so after describing the pool the lobby staff identified their hotel and arranged for someone to give them a ride on the back of a motorcycle. This was Eilizabeth and John's first time on a motorcycle, and without helmets too. John said he was on the back holding on and hoping he wouldn't fall off, with Elizabeth in the middle. Not great parenting on our part I suppose, but it all worked out. We'll spend more time at our next stop ensuring the kids are oriented and know the name of our hotel.

Vang Vieng is a small and relatively peaceful town, which is great for us. About as much excitement as I've seen in this sleepy place was a cock fight out on the main street last night, which was strange to see as I passed by. Vang Vieng had a notorious reputation as a backpacker's party town, but the party scene was shut down by officials three years ago after a number of party goers drowned in the river. It was a raucous place, maybe what the world would look like if teenagers were in charge. A typical day would involve a tube ride down the river with a plastic bucket filled with Red Bull and whiskey. There would be stops at dock bars along the way of course for more drinking and possibly a makeshift zip line ride down into the river. Restaurants along the river would openly sell shakes, pancakes and omelettes laced with magic mushrooms, opium, or weed. The lack of adequate medical attention in the area at the time I'm sure also contributed to the death rate.

We rented bicycles and visited the local caves across a walking bridge over the Nam Song river. The caves were pretty cool with good pathways leading into caverns. Water was dripping on the stalagmites and stalactites, so they were still actively forming. The kids drank out of coconuts, which a vendor cracked open just enough to get a straw in. Later John and I rode far in search of a geocache, but in the end we realized the cache was on the other side of the Nam Song river. There was a zip line at the river with people zipping over and John thought we could use that, but I pointed out it's a one way zip line with no way to get back to our bikes. John wanted to ask around to find a boat ride across but that was the end of the line for me, so we headed back.

I noticed a lot of construction going on, and some very strange trucks used to haul construction material around. They consisted of rough wooden trailers around 8 x 12 feet, pulled by what looked like an oversized motorcycle with tractor tires, with long handles so the driver could sit farther back.