Taking the tube.

We arrived in Vang Vieng a couple of days ago, and wasted no time in getting involved in the main backpacker vocation round these parts - riding in a rubber tube down the river. I swear, if getting the Northern line had ever been that fun I would have got the tube to and from work happily every day, including weekends.

Basically, you pay a bit of cash in the centre of town and put all your stuff in a dry bag, then get tuktuk'd up the road about 4km. Then you spend the next few hours cruising down the river in your tube.

Sounds fun in itself, but add in a smattering of bars down either side and it gets even more classic (in typical SE Asian style, safety first of course: drinking and swimming being great activities to combine). There is always someone shouting "Beer Lao" at you and holding out a long piece of bamboo to pull you in with. We had a top class day making loads of new friends and jumping off the flying fox into the river. A total classic.