Kayaking and Tubing down the Nam Song River

Danna and I were recently in Vang Vieng a hot spot for backpackers from all over. The main draw of the town is the tubing down the river. Tourists rent tubes, get dropped off at the river, and float back to town while stopping at bars along the river to take part in adult beverages, play the games set up and relax in cabanas and hammocks. All along our way south to Vang Vieng, we were warned not to drink too much as many tourists have gotten injured on the river in the past due to strong currents and slow reflexes.

The elephant carving.

Danna and I decided the getting drunk on the river culture really wasn't for us and signed up for a kayaking adventure with tubing through a cave. Before arriving at the cave for tubing, we stopped in a small village at the Elephant Cave. I don't know when or who but at some point and time a large elephant carving was put into the cave and that is how it got it's name. There was about a 10 minute walk through the village and rice paddies to get to the tubing set up. As always, it was a spectacular view and rice paddy green really is the best color green in the world!

Entrance to the cave.

 In my mind, the cave was going to be this huge cavernous room, with holes in the rock for natural light to get in and all of us would be lazily splashing around. What they should have advertised for the tubing was practicing your limbo skills while sitting in a tube in the dark and pulling yourself along a rope against a surprisingly strong current. I had to laugh when reality smacked me in the face!

The tubing was really fun and we were given headlamps so we could sort of see what we were doing. To get into the cave we had to squeeze between and under two rocks while pulling ourselves against the strongest part of the current. When we reached the back of the cave, our guides had us get out, store the tubes and then belly crawl and wade through water chest deep to the deepest part of the cave. The guide leading this expedition was a real jokester and kept playing tricks on Danna who was right behind him. His goal was to scare her and I think he freaked her out a couple times. I'm just glad I wasn't right behind him! I probably really would have freaked out! When we all arrived at the very back of the cave, there was a tiny little waterfall and the guides had us shut off our lights so we could experience true blackness.

After a delicious lunch, we set off for our 18km kayak ride back to Vang Vieng. I've never been kayaking before and I have to say, I really enjoyed it! I think it is something I could get into at home as long as the water isn't too cold! Danna was the navigator as she's been kayaking before. She did a pretty good job as we didn't flip or run into anything! We did encounter some pretty strong rapids and by the time we arrived at the Sabaidee Bar on the river, I was fairly soaked, and by that I mean completely drenched! The scenery along the way was spectacular! The mountains, clouds, and rice paddies combined made for some incredible views. We were even able to see a waterfall way up high on one of the mountains at one point and time. I really enjoyed that!

Much to our surprise, our guides had us stop at one of the riverside bars for a short break and rest. Everyone grabbed some drinks, sat back and watched the tubers make the decision to pass or grab on to the rope and stop in for a drink. The bar had cabanas, hammocks, basketball and volleyball courts, a ping pong table, and loud music blaring for the party goers to enjoy. With every drink you buy at these bars, you also get a free shot (absolutely terrible stuff), and a bracelet so everyone knows how many drinks/ shots you had on the river. Even though it was an unexpected stop, I had fun at the bar and can understand why backpackers get lost here for days on end.