Sunday, October 02, 2005

Happy Birthday To Me.

It was my 36th birthday yesterday. I spent it mostly wet. Sam and I went kyaking down the river here. What a laugh. We met up with 8 others at the Wildside office, just off Khao San Road. All who'd paid the $15, for what turned out to be a day of fun and adventure.

I started sat at the back of the kayak, but my lack of coordination let me down, and streered us all over the place. Two collisions with rocks later, and Sam decided it best if she steer at the back, while I concentrated on paddling at the front.

The morning drifted by, meandering down the river, occasionally negotiating a small rapid or two. The guides delighted in splashing us, soon everyone had joined in, everyone soaked. That's pretty much how we spent the rest of the day, soaked.

Lunch was a improvised BBQ on the river bank. Then back onto the river, down to the Organic Farm. A quick mulberry shake and a whistle-stop tour of the mulberry green tea and silk production-lines (see a couple of woman sat around), we set-off again. This time we were accompanied on the river by a load of Tubers.

The other activity that people do on the river, apart from kayaking, is Tubing. This involves floating down the river in a big inner-tube, while getting more and more smashed on Beer Lao and smoking pot. They float along until they come to one of the landing points, where some local has set up a make-shift bar on the river banks. The Tubers get to stock-up and carry on down the river until they need another beer, or their joint has gone out.

Most of these people were totally smashed, how there aren't more people killed is amazing. Pissed-up, in an inner-tube, let loose on a fast flowing river. A recipe for disaster when you think about it. Well we negotiated our way now through the Tubers. Stopping to look at a cave. Sam decided that it wasn't for her, I gave it a go, swimming into the entrance of the cave. It was too dark to carry on for me so I swam back out to join Sam.

The people we went with were all good people. A load of Brits, some Germans, and French Canadian. After we got back to Vang Vieng, all quite knackered by now and still soaking wet. They all sang me happy birthday, which I squirmed, that was until the attention was taken away from me by some guy crashing his motorbike. I missed him flying through the air, over his handle-bars. By the time I turned round he was already picking himself up from out of the deep puddle he'd landed in. Totally unhurt, apart from his pride maybe, he went to climb right back on the bike.

Knackered and with somewhat pinker legs than we started with, we headed back to the guesthouse. Showered and crashed on the bed.

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