The Eagles - Hotel California

Tubing in Vang Vieng

Travel Documentary

A short travel documentary from Laos and Thailand, made by Craig De Meillon.

Laos

We flew in to Vientiane, Laos. Because the buses were called the “buses from hell”. They were so overcrowded that people sat on rise bags in the isle for 17 hours.

We were heading to Vang Vieng. And on our way to my new favourite town, we met Jenny from NYC, Michael from England and Abraham from Mexico.

We were now a group of five.

We checked in at Pan's Place, and got each our bungalow, with nothing but a mattress on the floor.

On the front door they quoted Eagle's song: “You can checkout any time you want, but you can never leave”. And I couldn't have said it better my self.

We we're suppose to stay for 3 days. We stayed for 12.
The city was just about to wake up, and it was a funny sight. As the food stalls and restaurants were opening, backpackers, covered in permanent marker, their eyes bloodshot and their bodies hurting, was crawling home after a night out.  It is hard to explain the atmosphere in

Vang Vieng, it is something you have to see with your own eyes. It's so relaxed, it's absolutely amazing.

The town is know for the tubing. And I'm pretty sure I'll never see anything like that again. Tubing involves hiring a tube, and then float down the Nam Song river. Both side of the riverbanks are filled with bars. Feel like a cheap bucket? Or a cold beer? Or even free bananas? Well then wave your hand at the staff, they'll throw out a bamboo stick and pull you in. You park your tube, and let the fun begin. Since everything ends up wet, promotions of free drinks are written on people's bodies. Speakers pumping out music, loads of other backpackers, sun, and fun. Yes it started off very well. But each bar also have a very unsafe route in to the water. You climb up on a unsteady platform, and launch your self in to the river. After a beer or five, the thirty feet tall swing doesn't look that terrifying any more, and we all ended up with some pretty bad bruises. But we made it to the finish line, and were still so amazed by the hole plot that you soon forgot about your aching body. There was no time to rest, we were all struggling not to fall asleep during dinner, but after another bucket, you feel surprisingly fine. Until the next day...

So what did we do for 12 days?

We slept, ate, drank, and slept some more. But after a few days the guilt was sneaking up on us, so we thought it was time to explore the town, which made me love the little town even more.

We met the most amazing people from every corner of the world, it was such an easy life style, and life back home seemed so far away.

The friendships you make when you're travelling is something special. You've only know each other for a week or two, but it feels like the most natural thing in the world. I guess it's all the new things you experience together. And probably the fact that you're together pretty much 24 hours a day. My friends from Vang Vieng was a big part of our travels, It wouldn't have been the same without them. And one of the main reasons I am here in Dublin today, is because of another Irish guy I met in the same town, Adam. One of the down sides about travelling is saying good bye. Because who knows when you'll see these people again.

I didn't want to leave my new friends, and I didn't want to leave the charming little town. But unfortunately the fairytale doesn't last forever. And new adventures were waiting for us around the next corner.

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Hanoi

"Always do what you wish you could"

Another exhausting bus ride (that was suppose to take 15 hours, but lasted for 22) further up north took us to Hanoi. An amazing city I would love to go back to one day. We checked in at Hanoi Backpackers, and this was the start of a great adventure.

We signed up for a two days boat cruse in Halong Bay, together with 40 other people from all over the world. We got on board, and after talking and getting to know each other for a few hours, they teamed us up and put us in a kayak.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW EXCHAUSTING THAT IS??

Well, I didn't. 15 minutes and my arms felt like jelly. Luckily I had a muscular Aussie in the back seat. We paddled in to a cave where we all jumped in the water, and turned each other kayaks upside down (with people in it). We paddled for two long hours, we were all so exhausted, we couldn't even talk at the end. But the glimpse of our cool pirate ship put a smile on everyone's face. We knew there was delicious food and beer waiting for us. We were such a great group. From America, Australia, Spain, France and some very loud Irish. We were surrounded by enormous cliffs, it reminded me of a scene from “The Beach”.

We started the night drinking games, where you had to make an animal sound before you took a sip, if you swore you had to lie down with your nose on the deck, and you were not allowed to say 'yes'. As you can imagine it was a night with loads of fun and laughter.

6 am the next morning they woke us up, and at breakfast it was remarkable quiet. By the look on people's face, we were all being punished from the fun night before. Exhausted, tired and with what felt like a car crash in my head, we were going trekking. There were a million (if not more) stairs, and the mountain we were about to climb looked like Mount Everest.

But we did it! And the view from the top was stunning. On our way down the mood was slightly better, the Irish guys were even singing! Rest of the day was very relaxing, with a motorbike tour around the Island, dinner, and a good night sleep..... Until the Irish guys busted in to our room, refused to leave, and then started making prank calls. Calling the other rooms, saying “Check out time! Your bus is waiting! Hurry Hurry!” One very confused guy was waiting in the reception at 4am.

Early the next morning we sailed back to Hanoi and spent a few more days with our new friends. It was such an amazing trip, and just the thought of it still makes me smile. But it was time to pack our bags again, a new country was waiting for us.

Next stop: Laos.