Jon the Traveller

Vang Vieng. Love it or hate it, its one of THE stops for nearly everyone who travels through Laos. The majority who do stop here come for the tubing – floating down the local river on giant inner-tubes stopping at bars along the way to drink beer, mushroom shakes and smoke some pot; a minority of others come for the stunning scenery and a plethora of caving opportunities.

Personally, having been to the place before, and done my fair share of tubing, this time around Id already made a decision to NOT tube, and to not just treat it as another place to get messed up. I wanted to avoid becoming part of what for me has ruined Vang Vieng. And since I am not a fan of long bus rides, a stay here is a necessity to break up the Luang Prabang to Vientiane journey.

So instead I explored around the town – and how it has changed over the years, from a small village of bamboo huts to a bustling town with never-ending construction, bars and reruns of Family Guy & Friends – the cave systems in the area are really wonderful, many sited near/under the karst formations that are such a grand backdrop to the awful sight of wasted westerners floating down the river. Even getting out of town across the river is a relief at times, walk away from the river and you start to see the older Laos still struggling on, only a stones throw away from the debauchery that has over run this once quiet corner of a quieter country, don’t get me wrong, Laos deserves to grow as all countries do, but is this really the best way?

The worst thing about my visit is that somehow I erased all the images I had taken while there, and did not notice until I was long gone from Vang Vieng, making all my efforts to avoid the uglier side of the place, moot. At least I now backup my images everyday.

So did I get a T-shirt, No. I found my fun in other places in town and yes I still mingled with the other travellers around, but I did not focus solely on getting trashed while in town, and since I did not tube, why would I have wanted a t-shirt that says “Tubing In The Vang Vieng Laos” to wear for the rest of my days in Laos. Shame they don’t do ones especially for the bitter and jaded like me.

Tags: Laos, Tubing, Vang Vieng

Got into VV very late – too late to originally stay here on my booking. However after spending the night in a cheap flop-house of a place, I popped down to see if they would be able to honour the aforementioned booking. Lo and behold the reception staff said they could. They gave me a gorgeous bungalow overlooking a well stocked fish pond on the grounds, yes it cost $32 a night, but I wanted to relax and pamper myself somewhat, given that I would be spending some time in a place I have come to loathe.

The room was very large with a king size double bed, aircon, hot water showers and a veranda right over the pond, facing towards the restaurant and the river.

For a bit of a splurge the place is very much worth it and the attached restaurant is such a change from the rest of the riverside places in VV, it has a wonderful “piazza” feel to it and does some amazing food, from Laos staples right though to good Provençal and even some Malaysian dishes.

Check their website for more information.

Tags: Bungalow, Laos, Review, Vang Vieng