Adventure 2011 (2): Laos

Vang Vieng is further north of the capital, going into the mountains. This is the Nam Song (River Song), which runs through it. These bamboo bridges don't look much but take motorbikes and all sorts over it

The landscape around Vang Vieng is breathtaking and karsts protrude wherever you can see.

We decided to go exploring

This is the way to the top of one of the karst formations

The intrepid explorer!

The view from the top was stunning

With a 360 degree view

I wasn't comfortable, teetering on top of the sheer drop down the other side to which we'd climbed

This is supposed to show how steep it was

It wans't that easy getting up

If you double click this picture, you can see some more bamboo ladders, which shows how big it was

The one we climbed is the small one to the right, that looks like a molehill, but is very high I promise!

If you were prepared to pay, you could see the surrounding area by hotair balloon

Beautiful!

There's loads of strenuous activities to do. One that isn't, is probably what Vang Vieng has become famous for - tubing.

This is literally sitting in an inner tube and floating down the river for a few hours

Along the way are bars which throw you a rope to pull you in. You can also go on their zip lines and rope swings into the river!

You pass some great scenery along the way and is peaceful as anything (once past the noisy bars)

It takes between 1 to 3 hours depending how high and fast the river is (and how many bars you stop at)

We hired bikes to go to some caves nearby

It's not like in Britain, where you are guided round a safe walkway. We had our own torches and were shown an entrance

We were heading towards a lagoon we were told we could swim in. Some of the sights along the way were dazzling

The air was very moist and cold. We got to the 'lagoon', and weren't impressed. It had taken us 40 mins to climb through, up ladders with fungus growing on, through gaps less than 2 feet high and through pools of cold scummy water