Our time in Laos concluded with three nights in Vang Vieng. When I did research on where to go in Laos, I struggled to decide whether or not we should go there. I struggled because it is a party town known for its beautiful landscape but more for its drunken tourists. The main attraction is tubing down the Nam Song river. The tube rental company brings you in a tuk tuk four kilometers upstream and drops you off for your joyride back into town. Along the drift back you can stop at about a dozen or so riverside bars. Just leave your tube on the riverbank, climb the bamboo ladder in your bathing suit and hang out drinking Beer Lao for awhile. Sounds great right? Exactly why we decided we may as well join in on the fun. We had hoped that people wouldn't be obnoxious and fall-down drunk but it was worth the risk. We had read that over the years several people have died from tube-related incidents. From what we could find it seemed to be due to stupid decisions made while drinking and we figured that we were mature enough not to get ourselves into that situation. The last incident was just a few weeks ago and we wondered what the scene would be like.
We had two full days in Vang Vieng and decided to go tubing on the first day in case the second day was a wash out (turns out day two was the hot one when you really wanted to be in the water). Because the last tubing incident was somewhat recent we figured that the bars might be closed but weren't sure. They were all closed. Bummer. Actually, one was open but it had a sign "Sorry, tubers are not welcome.". We may have slipped into that bar with a group of kayakers and had ourselves a beer but once the kayakers were gone, and there were clearly only tubes on the riverbank, no kayaks, we were politely asked to "please leave soon". We aren't sure if they would have received a fine for serving us? Or maybe we would have received the fine? Either way - we were out of there quick! I've never floated down a river in a tube before....it was great fun until it got cloudy and kind of cold. It took about two hours to get back into town and we were ready for hot showers by the time we got back. Once we were back in town, we asked a local about the bars being closed and they said that they'd be open again in about a week and were closed due to a nearby holiday. We don't think he knew what he was talking about. Most were closed, and the couple which were open had signs up that said "no tubers". It may be the end of an era for Vang Vieng. Sometimes a few idiots ruin the fun for everyone.
On day two we rented mountain bikes and trekked seven kilometers to the Tham Phu Kham cave and the Blue Lagoon. I really don't like mountain biking. I find nothing fun about this activity. I always seem to forget and go but next time I will let Jake have this activity all to himself. Most people take motorbikes or a tuk tuk to the cave/lagoon so we had the road pretty much to ourselves through the Lao villages. This is without a doubt the poorest country I have ever been to. People do not look malnourished and no one is begging you for anything - but how they live is just incredible to me. Shacks with dirt floors. Chickens, roosters, dogs and cats everywhere. The road infrastructure is nonexistent. The roads are absolutely terrible. I've never driven on roads with potholes like there are in Laos. There are no highways. The roads we took from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng and then to Vientiane (the capital) go from semi-paved to dirt to semi-paved with potholes and back again. A mudslide could easily take out the main roads. I hope that I never have to travel on those roads again. I need a back massage just to undo the damage done from bouncing around in the back of a minivan for hours and hours.
Ok, back to the lagoon. The lagoon itself was the first thing we saw once we dismounted our bikes. The color was a pretty, but cloudy, blue green color and we both took the rope swing into the cold water. For about 30 minutes we watched other visitors jumping off of the tree, doing flips, backflips etc. into the water. There were a lot of bellyflops. The funniest thing for us to watch were the adult Asian (not sure exactly from which country) tourists "swimming" in the water in lifejackets and even jumping off the high branch into the water - with a lifejacket on. I just wanted to teach these people how to swim!
Blue Lagoon in Vang Vieng, Laos
We hiked about 200 meters up into the Tham Phu Kham cave which was one of the biggest caves I've ever been in and was pretty cool. I kind of felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie.
Reclining Buddha inside the Tham Phu Kham
Another thing to do in Vang Vieng is watch Friends. Yes, you read that correctly - watch Friends. There are several places that have low tables where you can basically lay down with your feet under the table and watch as they play sequential Friends episodes back-to-back, commercial free. The one we went to sold the cheapest beer in town and had an extensive food menu. The experience was so random, so fun. That show is great.
Picture from the back of the Friends cafe...
We definitely enjoyed the food in Laos, especially the bread and the fruit shakes. Each morning our breakfast was served with a warm baguette - indicative of the French influence on the country. In Vang Vieng, all over town there were women with carts selling sandwiches, pancakes (crepes) and shakes. Every menu was exactly the same. We went to the same woman twice for a chicken sandwich. In front of you she'd fry up chicken (which tasted like it had been marinating in coconut), bacon and onions. She'd slice cheese onto the bread, add those ingredients as well as lettuce and tomato, and then any other condiments that you want. Jake = mayo, me = ketchup. 20,000 kip ($2.45) and so good. We also had our go-to lady for a pineapple coconut shake: fresh pineapple, coconut water right out of a fresh coconut and shaved coconut. You could add sweet and condensed milk and sugar if you'd like. Sweet and condensed milk was absolutely everywhere in both Thailand and in Laos, weird.
Would I recommend that you visit the town? Only if you find yourself backpacking through Southeast Asia. Don't get me wrong, we definitely had a good time, I just wouldn't make a point of making a trip there. Maybe if you are a rock climber which also seemed to be a go-to activity and with the landscape, you can understand why.
~ Jesslyn