A little something for everyone in Vang Vieng

After seeing a bit of rural Laos, we hopped back onto the backpacker trail and headed north to Vang Vieng. We were hit with major culture shock, to put it mildly. The town is a mecca for young backpackers who just wanna party, hang out with other westerners and try to get laid. When taken together with the stunning backdrop of the Nam Song river and limestone cliffs, it makes for a pretty bizarre juxtaposition. Every business is either a guesthouse, restaurant-bar with “special” menus or travel agency – not to mention the numerous banana pancake carts that appear in the night, beckoning drunk revelers. You see tons of kids, fucked up on various substances, sucked into a couch watching omnipresent Friends or Family Guy episodes for hours. It’s definitely an example of how a certain kind of tourism, in our opinion, is having a negative effect on the town’s character.

One of the main draws to Vang Vieng is the popular tubing ride down the river. Basically, you rent an inner tube for 55,000 kip (plus deposit) and a tuk-tuk will take you a few kilometers upriver to the start of the trip. There are several bars built up along the river which toss you ropes and pull you in, plying customers with free shots in hopes that you’ll stay at their bar to drink. And, in an incredible feat of engineering, they’ve build huge platforms with slides, zip lines and rope swings that you can ride – I shit you not. It’s also important to note that most of the bars are clustered towards the very beginning, with nothing afterwards except for an uneventful float a couple kilometers back into town. A lot of people don’t even rent tubes, choosing to take a tuk-tuk back to Vang Vieng once the bars shut down at sundown. Nikki, TD and I decided to try it once before passing judgment – I can see how it would be fun if you’re 18-23 years old but for us it’s a bit played out.

Vang Vieng, or the “Dub-V”, as we like to call it, has many redeeming qualities if you’re willing to venture out of town. We all rented motorbikes (Joyce rode on the back of TD’s bike, since she was still recovering) and went exploring in the countryside. About 15 kilometers north of town lie four caves, which are within walking distance of one another. These caves were no joke. In Tham Hoy, our guide led us 3km into the earth where we scrambled over rocks, crawled under tight spaces and ditched our shoes to go barefoot through water passages. At the end, we reached a deep pool where we swam among the stalagmites, staring up at the stalactites. Fantastic. It was refreshing to visit these surrounding areas and take a break from the cheesy scene in town. But enough with the haterade – Vang Vieng is what you make of it, whether you’re into partying or outdoor activities, so have some fun!