The controversial Vang Vieng

The controversial Vang Vieng

It was hard to leave Luang Prabang. This is not the first time during my travels, when I wanted to stay but also felt like moving on. We headed to Vang Vieng with Rahel and Mei.

Yes, I knew about how infamous a place it is. For those who never heard about: up until a couple of years ago people just travelled here for tubing on the Nam Song river, while stopping at every bar close to the river and to arrive totally wasted and or drugged to town, where they continued partying. After years of many tourist dying the scandal went on, and finally in 2012 the government shut down the majority of bars and took drug control more seriously. Tourism changed a lot, and they say it is becoming an outdoor paradise. The town doesn’t lack anything to be so, but unfortunately my experience is really different.

The drive to get to Vang Vieng was amazing. The road had thousand curves through beautiful mountains, and as a bonus we spent the last hour in a never ending sunset. The mountains around the Nam Song river are stunning and made me emotional. As a contrast, the town is super ugly. Dusty, dirty, full of trash, crowded, loud and expensive. Outdoor tour agencies line up along the main roads offering zipline and kayak tours, but the most popular item on the menu is still tubing. And yes, the participants still arrive back to town completely wasted.

Finding a good accommodation is not easy either. I think I understood what my friends think, when I tell them that I usually stay in hostels. I haven’t seen such low level, less than welcoming places for a long time – and believe me, I slept in many different places during my travels. I guess I am not picky, I am okay without a shower and fresh sheets for weeks in the mountains, but – in agreement with the girls – we left our accommodation after a night. And it is not easy to find a decent place for reasonable price. Options are either the cheap low quality hostels, or the way more expensive guesthouses. It feels like the middle range option is missing here. The best places are out if town, usually fully booked in advance.

We figured we can visit some caves without joining an organized tour, and maybe we also find one of the blue lagoons. Apparently all little lakes over here are called blue lagoon, to make it more attractive. So we rented bicycles for this little adventure. We kinda started a little late (around 10, because of the change of accommodation), and till then most if the shops ran out of gear bikes. We needed about 40 minutes to fix the bike issue and head north. Great idea to pedal in the heat, I can tell. The special fun part was, that every time the road got a little bumpy, the chain wanted to drop, I could not pedal at all. When we turned to a dirt road from the main road, my bike gave up, the chain dropped. I was so glad that I spent my childhood on the countryside, so putting back the chain after all is not such a big thing.

I think you don’t lose much if you skip the Elephant Cave, and even if the Water Cave is fun, it doesn’t worth the effort. The Water Cave is tubing in a small cave, where actually you need to pull yourself with the fixed ropes applied to the wall of the cave as there are no currents moving you. It is pitch dark inside – or at least it would be without the chinese groups arriving every minute. We went in between too large groups and I found it funny listen to their screaming and shouting. Later we walked a while to finally find blue lagoon no. 4, where except a chinese couple taking gazillion pictures of themselves, there was noone. No wonder, as the place was already in the shade and the water was super cold, so we decided to return to town.

The way back was a constant fight. My bike totally broke, I could not shift gear, and I was pedalling like a little hamster in the running wheel. There was no counter force, so I was just pedalling and pedalling, but I hardly moved forward. I thought I will never get back.

So, lesson learned, next day I decided to rent a motorbike and go a little further out of town. Tara Villa Vang Vieng - pinterjuco.huFirst we visited a beautiful villa to see its backyard (Tara Villa, one night in their bungalow is only 120 USD, but the first night available was at the end of the month…), then the girls decided to try the classic tubing, which I skipped. I had a day just for myself.

First I went for a cup of coffee, this is when I met the american Joanne, who travels in Southeast Asia for a month with a group of retired people from the US. She had an incredible life. She travelled around Europe by train in the sixties, visited Hungary as well. All her life she was a solo traveller. Then raised her three kids as a single parent in Africa. They first moved to the US when going to university, but she stayed in Africa because of work. Now she lives in Saint Louis, teaches at the university. When I asked her if she visited South America, she told me that she is saving it for later, when she won’t be active anymore. Joanne is 74.

I left inspired and smiling and headed to the Buddha Cave (Tham Phu Kam), that was a great surprise. That place is just beautiful. I recommend visiting it with good shoes and head torch. From the entrance you climb a little to reach the reclining buddha. There’s some light coming through a crack, but as we go further in the cave, there’s no natural light, just the head torches lighting up the stalactite formations. No paths are designed, there are many options to look around and enjoy the beauty of this cave. I spent more than an hour inside.

After the cave I decided to cruise around with my bike, and accidentally bumped into the place designed for me. This is the Nam Xay viewpoint. This is actually a hill 250 meters above the plain, that is turned into business by its owner. He built a path, cut some trees out, put some railing to the critical parts, and built a covered viewpoint at the top. Nam Xay viewpoint Vang Vieng - pinterjuco.huHis kids play at the foot of the hill all day, they collect the entrance fee as well. They are around 4-5 years old, good in math, though they needed some assistance with my onehundredthounsand bill.

You need to work a bit for the view, but absolutely worth it. I just met a couple of others up there, during the four hours I’ve spent there. The view is breathtaking, so I did not feel like moving. View from Nam Xay, Vang Vieng - pinterjuco.huI had a nice chat with the French-German-Moroccan trio arriving after me, had an afternoon nap and watched the sun set. This was the best day.

If I could’ve find a good place to stay at, I would’ve stayed, but instead I planned the coming days and next day we travelled to Vientiane, where we separated.

Ah, and as promised I visited the doctor, as my foot didn’t get better. They say, that the hospital in Vang Vieng is actually good in handling arm & leg injuries, I guessed this is something to test. The challenge started with the lack of common language. I made a sad face pointing at my foot, showed how much I am limping and said ouch-ouch a couple of times. They pointed at the Emergency Room. I said ‘No accident’, they said ‘emergency’. So I obeyed. Here two ladies did not even look at me – this is usually the sign of not speaking English. There was a doctor, writing diagnoses – I think. The less shy of the ladies pointed at him. I waited a while till he moved his gaze at me and I explained the situation. He was thinking a bit, and said it might be a muscle spasm – still had my shoes on – and I shall take ibuprofen. I suggested to have an actual look at my foot, maybe there were some more ideas at the pleace this one came from. He was moving my toes around, but I have no pain there, and concluded that it needs ibuprofen treatment. I kept saying some other options, as it might me inflamed, so maybe an anti-inflammatory cream, or something else, but he considered the session over. At least it was for free. So I move on and keep limping.

 

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Prices

  • Bicycle 8-17: 30.000 LAK
  • Scooter per day: 40-120.000 LAK
  • Fruit shake / baguette sandwich: 15.000 LAK
  • Elephant cave: 5.000 LAK
  • Water cave: 10.000 LAK
  • Blue Lagoon 4: 5.000 LAK
  • Tham Phu Kham: 10.000 LAK
  • Nam Xay viewpoint: 10.000 LAK