Vang Vieng was a sleepy village in Laos not too long ago when some enterprising locals and tourists decided to turn their incredibly scenic Nam Song river into a backpacker drinking party. Renting a tube and bar hopping among the bars, zip lines and rope swings all nestled onto the river has become a controversial rite of backpacking Southeast Asia.

Vans drop tourists off upstream of Vang Vieng and you rent a tube for a couple bucks. Before you can even get in the water, you must walk through the first of many bars that are built up on the river banks.

The alcohol is insanely cheap and flows freely along with other mind-altering substances. After passing through the first bar, you then encounter the first rope swing. After climbing several rickety wooden ladders, you grab the bars and swing out over the river. I hung on a little too long (so I released as the rope was swinging back up) and I felt like I was flying. I also saw stars from the impact with the water.

This article provides a good summary of the history of tubing on this river. Now you float down the river in your tube and about a dozen bars toss out ropes to pull you in for more drinks. Tourists also get short-term jobs working these bars.

More zip lines and rope swings dot the river until you reach an exit point that provides an easy walk back into town.

Tourists die all the time doing this tubing run and we saw first hand how. Cheap and strong liquor is served by the bucket and then incredibly intoxicated people get into tubes on a flowing river and jump on rope swings from dozens of feet above the water.

This article explains how the town has cleaned up the tubing scene. They have restricted the bars and tube sellers to the point where it is a much more relaxed and tranquil outing.

We tubed down the river on two separate days and had a lot of fun. After Vang Vieng, we took a bus to Vientian, the capital of Laos. After about 10 days of hanging out with the same group, this is where we parted ways and I celebrated my birthday.