Tube down a river

“Most people there were with at least one other person, and the awkward stage of getting into the tube, getting situated somewhat comfortably, and then moving along was punctuated with laughter and exclamations of surprise by everyone at the river’s edge – as any adventurous outing should be! [...] What became a problem for me was how much paddling I had to do. In order to steer yourself both toward and away from parts of the river, and to face forward as often as possible, you have to extend your arms behind you into the water and use them as paddles. This is fine for the first hour or so, but if you don’t use your arms regularly or if you have any kind of shoulder strength issues, it becomes almost debilitating.”

“The river was a smooth ride besides some random big rocks and logs, but you could easily maneuver yourself around those. About half the time the water was shallow enough for you to get off your tube and swim or walk in the water. [...] Well I started to drink a little more than usual since the sun was beating down on me and guess where I decided to fall off my tube? Yep, a deeper part of the river. Only my luck LOL. I could touch the bottom, but the water was up to my neck and getting back on the tube was a struggle [...] Thankfully, my tube was big and I’m just small, so I was sleeping beauty on a river.”

“After placing my tube in the water, I awkwardly jumped on, with my feet out front and bum dragging on the rocky riverbed. Heading out into deeper waters, we both enjoy the peacefulness and serenity of floating down the Nam Song River. Soon enough, I realize my tube is feeling as soft as a pillow, it’s deflating. Luckily, we are only about 100 meters from where we were dropped off. [...] it took five hours from start to finish without getting out at any of the bars, just peacefully floating. Though, in the end, we did get over it and started paddling downriver.”