Tubes and Jars

3/15: Tubing in Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng is pretty much making it big in Laos because of a 3 kilometer tubing route they have set up, so of course while in Vang Vieng for a week we gave it a try. First of all, there is a cartel going on with all the tube companies so they charge obscene prices. Second of all, it turns out the 'experience' is mostly about the congregation of bars boasting free alcohol. But, luckily the 20 bars have packed themselves tightly at the beginning so soon we were off bumping (dry season means not enough water for tubing at times...) along the river. The highlight for me was when 6 little kids spotted me coming down and instantly flocked to my tube. Soon it was me plus 6 little kids on top of me on one not very large tire tube. Half the time was spent seeing who could be on the top of the pile and then eventually a balance was miraculously achieved and I ferried them down the river a bit.

3/17: Plain of Jars

Yesterday we made an excursion to the mysterious Plain of Jars. It is simply a large area where huge jars of unknown origin are scattered throughout fields. These are not little glass jam or jelly jars though, they are stone jars weighing 600 kilograms to one ton. Also, to this day no one has been able to figure out why exactly they might be here. Some of the speculations I couldn't help laughing at while looking at a jar 5 times my size and imagining it being used for wine fermentation of extra rice storage.