Vang Vieng, Laos (Post #77)
Saa-baa-dee! (Loa greeting)
Michele here on Saturday, January 7th. We have really enjoyed Vang Vieng. We both agree it’s our favorite town/village thus far on the trip. It has everything a traveller would want: very cheap, extreme natural beauty, movies in every bar at night, a river that supports kayaking and tubing, huge cliffs and caving opportunities, lots of bars along the river front, no beggers, no sales pressure, and a lot of excellent food. We had not planned to stay this long but we love it here. The river provides plenty of recreational opportunities as do the many caves in the area. [Note: See the next blog on details about our caving activities.]
Upon first getting into Vang Vieng, you are met with the following image:
(This is Mike walking down the main street)
Many people simply rent a guest house for one night and leave in the morning. However, once you get to know the town, you will quickly realize how easy and nice it is to stay here. We have kayaked down the river and done some river jumping (meaning we jumped off a platform into the river and used a rope swing – both were quite high above the river.) There is a funny sign that says you have to buy beer before jumping off the rope swing. This would have law suit written all over it if in the U.S. but Lao people don’t get involved in such things very often.
Below are some pictures I took of the town over the last several days. Hopefully, these photos will give some sense of the town’s beauty.
We have decided that we will take a bus to Vientiene (the capital of Laos) tomorrow morning. We don’t have reservations for any place but, like always, we’ll find something!
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Tags: Category #21: Laos
Michele Harmon
Looks like a cool little place.
-Smith
I agree with you Michele. These pictures are gorgeous!
My brother has just bought a bar over there, how do you think it will go?
Shell – If it’s an opium bar, he will be rolling in $$$$!