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Published: March 6th 2013
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I arrived in Vang Vieng after a long, windy and bumpy 6hr mini bus ride but luckily on arrival discovered that I'd picked a good hostel in 'Pans Place'; cheap, clean and cheerful. Vang Vieng is a small town, with the Mekong river running alongside it and amazing scenery surrounding it. It was probably a sleepy rural town until tourism hit it...and it hit it with a massive bang...or to be more accurate with a mass of pissed people tubing down the river.
But quite recently all the bars along the river were burnt down by the government, as there were too many accidents and even deaths....drugs, booze and rope swings over rivers really are a recipe for disaster. This means the town has now calmed down a little and people I spoke to said that it was much quieter than a year or so ago. The tubing still goes on, but it's nothing like it was. This article, published in the Observer last year about the state of Vang Vieng is an interesting read! http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/07/vang-vieng-laos-party-town.
That said, although much calmer now, it still remains a Backpackers town. Almost every bar shows Friends or Family Guy on loop and
serves western food like burgers and fry ups. Although, as I discovered...its not always what it seems...my baked potato consisted of a plate of peeled boiled potatos. I should have just ordered noodles. When you're in the town centre you almost feel like you're in a bubble, I guess its like being in a holiday resort in some ways; but it does mean it's so easy to meet people and it's a really sociable place where you can have a good night out, or just 'waste hours' chilling out on one of the many big cushioned seats.
Vang Vieng has some amazing sights to offer too, on the first day I bought a map, hired a bicycle and went off to explore. The surounding countryside is beautiful and there are so many amazing caves nearby too, with perfect swimming spots in lagoons and rivers. I cycled to one of the caves which was up a large set of steps in the side of the cliff. As I was looking around I met a couple of monks, at first it was really strange because they kept taking photos of me and then I realised I'm usually taking photos of monks...and
I guess it's the same thing. They were really friendly and interested in my trip to Laos and in England which was lovely (one of the photos attached is with one of these monks). Afterwards, I wandered a bit further down the river and got chatting to a Laos guy who was stood in the river fishing. He told me that there were loads of caves around there and pointed out where you could climb into a cave, walk along and climb back down. I must have seemed interested because he pulled a head torch out of his bag and took me on a mini expedition through the cave. I guess he could have asked me for some money after, but he didn't even suggest it and was just genuinely happy to show me these great little caves, something I never would have seen otherwise.
Another of my days in Vang Vieng was spent kayaking down the river with a Swiss girl that I'd met, called Lena. We got off to a rocky start, literally, and pretty much capsized the kayak...but we soon got the hang of it and by the end of the day we'd kayaked 20k! We
stopped off for a BBQ lunch and to visit one of the caves. Armed with head torches we went tubing inside the cave, pulling ourself along a rope that ran all the way down it. It was quite a surreal experience, being in a long line of tourists on rubber rings, inside a cave. But it was fun.
After 4 days in Vang Vieng I got the bus to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Although it doesn't feel like a capital city at all. It's very relaxed and full of nice cafes, restaurants and ofcourse temples. I met a South African girl, Lara, on the bus there which was great as we spent the couple of days I had in Vientiane hanging out. We visited the cope centre, mentioned in my previous blog, and had some great indian veggie food and the best shakes I've sampled at a little place called 'Fruit Heaven'.
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