Laos Part 2: Vang Vieng

After another breakfast of delicious pastries we attempted to take a bus out of Vientiane to Vang Vieng. Unfortunately for us, poor planning on the part of the bus company meant that it took two vans, two buses, and over an hour before we actually went more than a mile away from our guest house. After that it was a relatively smooth and easy ride to Vang Vieng. The flatlands of Vientiane gave way to steep cliffs lush with jungle. Around every turn was a new waterfall tumbling down the side of a mountain. After a three hour ride we found ourselves in the backpacker capital of Laos: Vang Vieng.



Some guidebooks and websites warned against Vang Vieng as being too touristy and not the "real" Laos. Despite that, it really is a great place for a traveler to stop, as it breaks up the 10 hour ride between the capital of Vientiane and Luang Prabang. While in Vang Vieng you can sign up for a multitude of adventure trips and activities. Rafting, biking, kayaking, and rock climbing are all options, You could easily stay in Vang Vieng for a week and do a different activity each day. That said, the main draw of Vang Vieng is the river that runs through it. Every day, scores of backpackers rent innertubes and spend the day floating down the river from bar to bar, stopping to drink a beer, explore a cave, or play volleyball. The town of Vang Vieng is relatively calm and laid-back but other than that it is nothing special. All of the restaurants serve more or less the same mixture of Laotian food and bland western junk food (though I will admit I LOVED the proliferation of baguette sandwiches) as either Family Guy or Friends plays on a TV in the background. Most of the hotels seemed to offer the same quality of hospitality for the same prices. Our hotel had a beautiful view and was fairly clean but we were astounded by how apathetic our hotel management was and how little they cared about our presence.






What really is spectacular about Vang Vieng is the scenery. The town overlooks a swiftly flowing river lined by stunning limestone karsts. Each morning we enjoyed taking long walks around the valley. The further away from town we got the more interesting our walks became. We found ourselves following fisherwomen, inspecting strange communist monuments, and wandering along the edge of rice paddies. I paused often to marvel at the beautiful butterflies. They looked like nothing I've ever seen in Thailand or in the states.





And did you know about the mulberries? They apparently grow a lot of them in Laos. Everywhere you go there is mulberry this and mulberry that. I'm drinking mulberry green tea as I type this. If you ever go to Vang Vieng, I insist you try the Mulberry Set at the Organic Farm Cafe. There is no better way to start your morning than with mulberry pancakes and a mulberry shake.

We left Vang Vieng after two days, slightly worse for wear but happy with our stay and even more enamored with Laos than we had been.

Please note that I switched the my picture embedding such that if you click on one it will link you directly to a higher res version and the rest of my flickr pictures.