Vang Vieng

The party never ends

Jan 2024

Evening View from Green Restaurant

I was picked up by a Mercedes Mini Van which was very comfortable, especially required as the roads were not too good in many places. My travelers were a bunch of Europeans who were picked up from various hotels, before we started driving.

There is the main highway towards Vang Vieng but apparently it as under repair and would take a lot of time, so we took the mountain route which was faster. Just as you cross into the Vang Vieng province, there is a nice mountain cafe with good views over the valley. After 5 1/2 hours, we reached Vang Vieng and from the main road, the vang Vieng Global Guesthouse where I was staying was a few minutes.

I was warmly received by the reception lady who introduced herself as Anna. After checking in, I took a list of restaurants to go to from Anna and went around checking the place out. I went down to Green Restaurant which has the most spectacular sunset and spent the twilight hour enjoying the views over food and drinks.

Vang Vieng is along the Nam Song river and it is popular with backpackers, seeking adventure sports and for its spectacular limestone karst landscape surrounding the town. The town is very popular for tubing, a sport where one floats down the river on tubes, but due to accidental deaths and bad reputation over the years, it is restricted now and there are many other adventure activities to chose from.

The next day, I hired a bike and went out to explore the different Lagoons and caves around Vang Vieng. The karst mountains are lovely and worth exploring around. Finally it was time to leave Vang Vieng for Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Meanwhile I was quite impressed with Anna's energy and how she engaged with all the guests. I hadn't seen this kind of attitude in Laotians who are more relaxed and easy going. The French colonists had a saying "The Vietnamese plant the rice, the Cambodians watch it grow, and the Laotians listen to it grow." That pretty much sums up the Indo-China experience! 

While sitting at the reception, Anna told me her story. She was originally from Vietnam (No Wonder for her work ethic), but moved to Vang Vieng after she caught her boyfriend cheating on her many times. She was hoping to find a white European in Vang Vieng (many of whom pass by) and settle down in the future. I told her Laos was not the place to be in as the travelers are just passing by and instead to go back to Da Nang where she would do very well as economic opportunities are high there and there are more westerners looking to settle down. I wished her all the best, then boarded a van which would take me to to Vientiane which was about a 2 hours drive away.