Partying & messin about, Laos

Had an awesome 8-day vacation in Laos in Feb. Three ass-kickers – the bars/cafes, the booze, n d clean, clear river that runs through the town.

We landed in Vientiane and jumped into a van to Vang Vien immediately. Coz dats where its at.

Vang Vien is goddam beautiful, especially adventure stuff, the river and the hills.

I have a general policy to not travel the same place twice, but might make an exception for Vang Vien. It’s a mix of nature, adventure and partying.

We rented a couple of motorcycles (about RM20/day) that were real useful. Trashed them well – off-road n shit, to get to cool spots to drink n party by d river. And some caving.

Beer Lao is Laos’ best-kept secret. The best beer I had in years. Joleen, who dislikes beer, started drinkin beer there. Haha. It’s like two bucks a beer, and available everywhere. And i mean EVERYWHERE. Even under a bridge, by its pillar, while you’re kayaking or tubing downriver. It’s light-tasting and smooth. Alcohol is 5%.

And the local moonshine is called…. guess what? Lao-lao. So dat even if ur drunk n brain-dead, u can still say “more lao-lao!”.

It’s clear rice liquor, like Sarawak’s abortion-inducer, langkau (not to be confused with Sarawak’s mood-enhancer, tuak).

And the top whisky is called Tiger. Both of these are like only 8 bucks a bottle. Tiger is pretty decent. Warms u up quick when tubing downriver. Bars located all along d river. Just wave, they throw u a rope, n pull u in. Exchange some cash, get your booze, continue to float aimlessly downriver. Awesome.

So here are some glimpses. I wasnt carrying so most pix were taken by Khang & Joleen.

Khang enjoys the team's default breakfast

Khang enjoys the team's mandatory breakfast

Crossing d bridge... to d Other Side Bungalows (more like shacks, but luved it)

Crossing d bridge... to d Other Side Bungalows (more like shacks, but luved it)

Here are.... d shacks

Here are.... d shacks

The sun sets in our backyard

The sun sets in our backyard

The first nite. Hazy

The first nite. Hazy

Beer & mandi-sungai huts near our 'resort'

Beer & mandi-sungai huts near our 'resort'

Tiger whisky n sum other shine

Tiger whisky n sum other shine

Made a trip thru fields to a riverside spot to party n jump into d river

Made a trip thru fields to a riverside spot to party n jump into d river

Takin a break from d sun

Takin a break from d sun...

And ended up here. Niiice!

And started monkeying around, after several Smirnoffs

And started monkeying around, after several Green Apple Smirnoffs

Kayaked 8km downriver one morning, with the help of one Beer Lao every km

Here, have a rat.  We had a bbq-ed field mouse

Here! Have a rat. We had a bbq-ed field mouse. Rubbery shit

Bars n cafes have Happy Menus

Bars n cafes have Happy Menus

The psycho seven who were on da road. Effortlessly gave Malaysia a bad name

The psycho seven who were on da road. Effortlessly gave Malaysia a bad name

Booze is served Thai style

Booze is served Thai style. Sempoerna pack was BYO

Gettin drunk while tubing. Awesome trip downriver

Avoid these people at all costs

Avoid these travellers at all costs

If u want sights like these over there, u gotta be adventurous n clueless

If u want scenes like these over there, u gotta be adventurous. And clueless

.

Brain damage rating: 8/10

Share

Chillin by Chiling

Yea, the river is called Chiling.

And it’s my fave spot in da world.

The frontyard of d pad

The frontyard of d pad

Had a bbq n drinks weekend at the house by d river, Maycliff. Awesome spot. Highlights were Blavod & the amazing Beer Lao, which unfortunately is not available in Malaysia.

Sis brought d twins, Mo & Trish.

And we brought da dawg.

p1000534

Homey rides shotgun

He doesn’t accept d backseat.

p1000580

Aw, is d river cold? Trish n Mo

I think i’ll let d pictures do da talkin.

p1000664

Some of d weekend’s weapons

Homey goin for it

Homey goin for it

Souvenir we brought back from Laos. Yea d beer too

Souvenirs we brought back from Laos. Yea d beer too. It’s awesome

Mo attempts a snatch. Sorry kid, wait a coupla years

Mo attempts a snatch. Sorry kid, wait a coupla years

There were some other dawgs there

There were some other dawgs there

There's sumtin bout dis kid n alcohol. Hmm. Maybe he can takeover this blog soon

There’s sumtin bout dis kid n alcohol. Hmm. Maybe he can takeover this blog soon

See?

See?

Blavod, d black vodka

Blavod, d black vodka

Khabir n my bro Anil chillin

Khabir n my bro Anil chillin

What u'll get when u mix Blavod & orange - Green Shit

What u’ll get when u mix Blavod & orange – Greenshit

For some reason the embers seem purple

For some reason the embers seem purple

While we were in d river with d kids, some dudes across d river shouted at us. “KELUAR!!! KELUAR!!! CEPAT!!!! KELUAARRR!!” I didn’t stand around to ask “Hah? Kenapa ni?? Rilek laa…”

I knew what it was. A flash flood. We grabbed d kids n got out.

It’s amazing how sumtin so fun has d possibility of turning tragic in a blink.

It rained earlier. And it stopped. Everything was fine. Then the water level rose several feet, turned brown and d flow was crazily swift, with all sort of debris in it. And it roared real loud. All within 30 seconds. The kids were playin in d water at that time. The campers’ warning saved their butts, cos they would have been swept in a blink.

This river has taken many lives, in a variety of ways.

Been there many times, but it’s d first time i’ve seen this.

Mess

Mess

Tea anyone? Bastards must be logging upriver

Tea anyone? This is d same spot as d following picture. Bastards must be logging upriver

See?

This is what it looked like a minute earlier

The river is just a short walk down d stairs from d garden of d house. Great spot.

Especially with a great bbq, friends and booze. Eddy, Henry & Khang showed up at 2am, cos they had a gig in KL. Semangat!

A super weekend in KKB.

Brain damage rating: 7/10

Related Posts with Thumbnails
Share