Travel Safety Hub - WorldNomads.com Travel Advice and Travel Safety. Stay informed on the road.

(In January 2012  two Australian men died following incidents while tubing at Vang Vieng.

Reports say Lee Hudswell fell "awkwardly" from a riverside bar zip line and received head injuries from which he never recovered. 

On January 26th, 2012, the body of Melbourne teenager Daniel Eimutis was found, three days after he disappeared during tubing activities. It is believed that the cause of Daniel's death was drowning - but this is unconfirmed at time of publication.

The exact circumstances of Mr Hudswell and Mr Eimutis's deaths are not known to us, and we make no inference of wrong-doing by them.

The following safety advice was written well before these (latest) incidents as a general warning of the dangers of tubing. )

So you’re going river tubing at Vang Vieng.You’ve heard about the cheap beer and buckets, free shots of tiger whisky, zip lines, rope swings, a water slide, followed up with a night of “happy” shakes and pizza with weird green stuff (wink, wink!).

There’s an old backpacker’s tale about a legendary tuber, some guy who liked it so much, he did it every day for 290 days.  If this guy exists you need to talk to him, because he has the secret to surviving against the odds!

If it was just tubing, a leisurely float down a river, it’d be fine. But it’s the added extras which mean you're going to need your wits about you to survive even one day on the river! 

Floating Party.

For example, there’s a bar at the tubing launch point, Mojitos before you get your feet wet. They’ll put your drink in a plastic bag for you, the old “one for the road” (which has never caused anyone trouble, right!). It’s hard to say “no” because the profits fund a local school. Your good deed for the day done, next stop: hedonism… a hundred metres downriver. 

Each of the bars lining the riverbanks has pumping tunes, a zip line, a rope swing, or a ridiculously steep water slide to entice you to stop. As long as you keep buying beers or buckets, you can test your luck. And you’re going to need lots of luck because bravado rises with booze intake, and it seems to make people leave their common sense zipped-up in their dry bag. 

Higher & Higher.

The beer is cheap and the tiger whisky even cheaper. Actually, most of the bars hand out this crudely distilled homemade spirit for free! 

The zip line launching towers get higher and higher as the tubers get, well, higher and higher! This is the golden triangle. You may see some tubers nip off for an opium smoking session, hand over their Kip for some weed, or order a “happy” shake laced with amphetamines. All of which is illegal, but the bar owner seems immune from prosecution (just hope his “immunisation” is up to date and the local police don't come a-knocking!).

Dangerous Mix.

By now, you’re probably getting an idea why this is a “survival guide”… drugs, alcohol, a river, and leaps into unknown waters.

In the rainy season the river runs fast and even strong swimmers struggle. In the dry season it’s dangerously shallow. Do not believe those “diving OK” signs. The double-double full-full (with pike) might have seemed like a good idea at the top of the zip line tower, but cracked heads and blood in the water are common.

You’ll see walking wounded in the bars of Vang Vieng, injured tubers with an arm bandaged, or a foot strapped. If it wasn’t the face plant on the rope swing, it was the back flop when they tried to play volleyball in the mud bath!

Like the whisky, medical treatment here is homemade, there’s no hospital and only a rudimentary clinic. A mild injury will mean a bus trip back to Vientiane before you see a doctor. Anything serious and you’re looking at medical evacuation, probably to Bangkok.

Death Defying? 

Not always. In September 2009 Irishman Michael O’Sullivan, his new wife and 18 others went tubing. It was the rainy season, they got into difficulty and locals had to rescue them. Michael was the only one they didn’t get. He wasn’t wearing a life jacket. His new wife – this was their honeymoon – was part of the search party that found his body 3 days later.

Michael's not the only tourist to lose his life here. And you know how I mentioned cracked heads earlier? Other backpackers are lucky to be alive (more video, but not for the squeamish).

Am I Covered If…?

Tubing: floating down a benign river enjoying the scenery (and the karst outcrops on the Nam Song are spectacular) – probably covered, check with your insurer because some policies and some providers cover it others don't.

Rope swings and zip lines: Because of the risks associated with these activities - not to mention the questionable construction of the swings and lines themselves - you're going to have a hard time convincing your insurer you were doing everything possible to look after yourself.

The giant water slide: Hmmm! I don’t think many bar owners in Vang Vieng have even heard of Occupational Health and Safety, let alone had a government inspector visit them. You can call your insurer from the top of the slide to check if you want, but its very likely you'll be paying your own medical bills on this one. Still want to risk it?

 Doing any of these things while drunk: most definitely not!

Travel insurance does not give you a license to take risks. It does not absolve you from the need to take reasonable steps to ensure your own safety.

If you deliberately put yourself in danger, if you contribute to your injury or loss (and that definitely includes being affected by drugs or alcohol) you’re on your own.  That means medical costs, the cost of tours and accommodation you’ve paid for but can’t use, the airfare you can’t use, the extra airfare you need to get home, or the bill for the nurse and charter flight to Bangkok. This can run to tens of thousands of dollars.

 If the worst comes to the worst, and it’s a case of what the industry euphemistically calls “repatriation”, the very expensive bill will have to be picked up by your family.

Safe Tubing.

It is possible to have great time tubing … and survive. Most days most of the tubers, mostly because of good luck, make it back to town safely.

How to be sure you’re one of them:

• Try to limit your alcohol intake. Those bucket drinks are great value, but it’s a bit hard to know exactly how much alcohol you’ve had. Too much alcohol makes people do crazy things.
• The tiger whisky is homemade, in a backyard, without any regulation of how pure it is or how strong it is.
• The same goes for the happy shakes. You’ve seen some of the toilets in Laos, right? What do you think the amphetamine labs are like?
• If it’s rainy season, the river’s running fast and you’re not a strong swimmer… take a tuk tuk to the bars instead of floating to them, they’re only a couple of kilometers from town.
• If you do indulge in whatever, make sure your friends know, stick together, and look after each other.
• If you think the rope swing tower is too high, it is. Don’t be timid, make sure you try new experiences, but if you’re really unsure of that final towering tower, don’t let peer pressure get to you, and remember your judgment will be affected by the fun stuff you’ve consumed.
• Wear a life jacket (undead is better than uncool).
• Get back to town before dark. There’ve been muggings and sexual assaults of tubers stumbling home in the dark. (Even if that doesn’t happen you’ll get stung another 20,000 kip for late return of your tube!)

Water Quality

One final word of warning - water quality. There is a general warning from health authorities for all of South East Asia to avoid swimming in fresh water. The CDC warns

Most of these diseases and infestations are associated with poor sanitation infrastructure. Human and animal waste makes its way into the river systems. Take the warning seriously, because as this comment on Ask A Nomad shows people do become ill from river water: