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Nestled beside the Nam song (Song River) amind stunningly beautiful limestone karst terrain, Vang Vieng provokes a mix of responses. It’s more of a love and hate relationship – which parts of you love depend on who you are.

The area’s main attraction has always been the drama landscape surrounding Vang Vieng. Honeycombed with unexplored tunnels and caverns, the limestone cliffs are a spelunker’s heaven. Several caves are named and play minor roles in local mythology – all are said to be inhabited by spirits. These caves and cliffs have also earned a reputation for some of the best rock-climbing in the region.

Nam Song river, Vang Vieng

The Nam Song, meanwhile, plays host to kayakers and travelers floating along on tractor inner tubes – a pastime so thoroughly enjoyable and popular that it has become one of the rites of passage of the Indochina backpacking circuit Other activities include rafting, trekking and bicycle and motorbike trips. Or you could just find a riverside seat for one of the regular postcard sunsets when, if you’re lucky, you might see thousands of bat pouring forth from the karst like an oil slick flooding the skyline.

So what’s to dislike, you might ask. The most common complaint is that in earning its stripes as a fully paid-up member of back- packer world, Vang Vieng has lost its soul. It’s probably not as bad as that, but the growth of Vang Vieng has taken its toll. Inevitably, the profile of the town has changed and the reason travelers first came here – to experience small-town Laos in a stunning setting – has been replaced by multistorey guesthouses. Even the local market has moved to a big, soulless slab of concrete north of town.

But if we accept that most visitors are going to enjoy the scenery and at least some of the activities, if not the misfit Greco-Laotian architecture of the guesthouses, then it’s the TV bars’ and their ‘happy’ menus that provoke the real love and hate. For some travelers, sitting on an axe pillow, sucking down a shake laced with marijuana/mushrooms/opium/yaba (methamphetamine) and tripping through endless reruns of Friends is heaven on earth. For others, it’s a nightmare.

If you’re in the latter camp then take heart because it’s easy enough to escape this scene by staying a bit away from the centre. It’s also re-assuring that the locals seem to have accepted this influx of falang without losing their sense of humor. And as Vang Vieng continues to evolve, its accommodation options have too. There are still plenty of cheap guesthouses where you can sleep off a hangover between long nights in the island bars, but there are now also more luxurious offerings.

No matter what you think of the Khao San Rd side of Vang Vieng’s personality, you can’t deny that this is a beautiful part of the world. So even if you’re not a fan of Friends, it’s worth stopping for at least a day or two.

Information
Internet cafes have popped up almost as fast as the mushrooms in Vang Vieng, most charging 300 kip per minute. New lines should reduce this price in coining years.
Agricultural Promotion Bank
Add: Th Luang Prelung
Exchanges cash only.
BCEL
Tel: 511434 – Open: 8.30am – 3.30pm Mon-Sun
Exchanges cash, traveller cheques and handles cash advance on Visa, Master card and JCB.
BKC Bookshop
Open: 7am – 7pm.
Second-hand novels plus guidebooks and maps.
Post office
Tel: 511009
Beside the old market.
Provincial Hospital
Tel: 511604
The flash new hospital is a reflection of the money coming into Vang Vieng. It now has x-ray facilities and is fine for broken bones, cuts, malaria and most noninternal injuries.

Vang Vieng has evolved into Laos’s number- one adventure destination, with kayaking, rafting, caving, trail- and mountain-biking and world-class rock climbing all available. These activities tend to be more popular than the sights, which are mainly monasteries dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. Among these, Wat Si Vieng Song (Wat That), Wat Kang and Wat Si Suman are the most notable. Over the river are a couple of villages to which Hmong have been relocated, which are accessible by bicycle or motorbike.

CAVES
Following, we’ve described several of the most accessible Tham (caves). Most are signed in English as well as Lao, and an admission fee ranging from US$0.10 to US$1 is collected at the entrance to each cave. A guide (often a young village boy) will lead you through the cave for a small fee, bring water and a torch (flashlight), and be sure your batteries aren’t about to die.

Tubing into cave, Vang Vieng

For more extensive multi-cave tours, most guesthouses can arrange a guide. Trips including river tubing and cave tours cost around US$8/13 for a half/full day.
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Most visitors leave Vang Vieng with nothing more serious than a hangover, but this tranquil setting is also the most dangerous place is Laos for travelers. At least five people have died around here in recent years from river accidents, drug misadventures and while caving Theft can also be a problem, with fellow travelers often the culprits. Take the usual precautions and don’t leave valuables outside caves.

ON THE RIVER
Whether tubing or kayaking down the Nam Song or rafting in more turbulent waters, river can be dangerous. Wearing a life jacket is a must when rafting any rapids and is advisable even on the normally tranquil Nam Song, especially during the wet season when waters flow up to four times faster than normal. Tubing/rafting/kayaking companies should provide one.
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Eating

You blow by the time you sit down for your third meal that something is amiss in the Vang Vieng restaurant scene. “This looks a lot like the menu at that other place” is commonly heard. Usually followed by something like: ‘Hang on, it is the same” The sad truth is that several restaurants, particularly those TV bars on the main street, do serve virtually identical fare aimed squarely at perceived Western tastes. And as with most plates offering such a varied selection of cuisines (usually including Lao, Thai, Chinese, Italian, American, French and with a Rasta option), none of it is done particularly well.

There are, however, a few decent eateries which even have their own menus. Most restaurants are open about 7am or 8am until about 11pm, though in the low season hours can be shorter. Note that this is just a small selection of restaurants we know to be reliable. You don’t need a guidebook to find the others, just look around.

Nokeo
Meal US$ 1-3 – Open: 8am-8pm
Nokeo is one of the last remnants of the old Vang Vieng. There are no bells or whistles, but it’s been around for years because it serves consistently good Lao food at prices low enough that locals can afford to eat here. The succulent ping paa is excellent, as are the various laap and curries. It’s the most Lao place to eat in Vang Vieng.
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Getting There & Away
Buses, pick-ups and sawngthaew continue to depart from a simple bus terminal (Tel: 511341; Rtt 13) on the eastern side of the airstrip, a few minutes’ walk from town. This is mildly surprising given a new bus station has been built 2km north of town, opposite the New Market No-one we met seemed to know if or when transport would move to the new station, but wherever you end up jumbo driven will be there trying to talk you into taking a ride into town.

Minibuses and air-con buses catering especially to falang often leave from one of the guesthouses in town, but don’t expect any extra leg room. Tickets are available almost everywhere, though buses do fill fast in peak season. Anyone who suffers motion sickness should take necessary precautions before the trip to Luang Prabang.

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