Vang Vieng

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In a nutshell

Climb stunning limestone karsts. Go tubing or kayaking down the river. Explore the nearby caves. Visit the town's temples, take a cooking class and enjoy a traditional Lao massage. Just try to avoid the restaurants playing endless US sitcoms.

Situated halfway down the long Vientiane to Luang Prabang highway, Vang Vieng has become (for better or worse) the pit stop of Laos. Surrounded by splendid karst scenery and overflowing with activities such as caving and tubing down the river, many weary travellers extend their stay here far longer than originally planned.

For many, Vang Vieng is a highlight of their trip to Laos. If your idea of an ideal night involves scoffing happy pizza and quaffing buckets of lao-lao and coke to a background of infinite Friends episodes, then you're going to absolutely love this place. Vang Vieng has become where backpackers shamelessly indulge in Western food, alcohol, drugs and, yes, American sitcoms.

The transformation of this once sleepy town into a backpacker circus is hard to overlook, and others see Vang Vieng as an example of tourism at its worst. While you'll probably still enjoy your stay — after all the scenery is spectacular — others push on to more interesting spots in Laos after only one night.

Vang Vieng is riddled with such an array of guesthouses (some of which can be booked online), restaurants and shops that it's hard to know what to do on arrival. Just about every shopfront on the main streets of this small but rapidly developing town caters to the tourist dollar. If you're looking for some genuine Lao culture, Vang Vieng is the wrong place.

The reason this tourist mecca has sprung up is the gorgeous Nam Song river and the magnificent karst mountains lining it. The imposing limestone structures rise up out of the land and run for kilometres, framing the rice fields and lazy river. Stunning at any hour, the mountains are particularly beautiful with the golden pink glow of sunset behind them, the perfect time to sit and have a drink at one of the plethora of riverside restaurants.

Every other property in town is undergoing some kind of building work, and the development is now starting to take its toll on the special environment which created the tourism. Rocks are quarried from the limestone mountain range and gravel extracted by the truckload from the Nam Song river bed to feed the demand for building materials. Unscrupulous or ignorant? Take your pick.

For action and adventure, there are caves to explore, trekking, kayaking and rafting trips and, for the ultra-adventurous, rock climbing. To chill out and enjoy Vang Vieng's scenery, rent an inner tube and float down the Nam Song basking in the beauty of the countryside and stopping for beers along the way.

Laos this place is not — but it's a fine place to while away a few lazy days.

Orientation
Vang Vieng's well-patronized BCEL ATM is between Green Discovery Tours and the Luang Prabang Bakery. The fee for international withdrawals is 20,000 kip and you can withdraw a maximum of 700,000 kip each time. Guesthouses and tour agencies throughout town will do money exchange at pretty fair rates, and Magnet Internet offers cash advances on credit cards.

The Vang Vieng Municipal Hospital is opposite Ban Sabai bungalows on the road running along the river. They can patch up minor ailments, but for anything serious you'll want to get to Thailand or at least Vientiane ASAP. The well-stocked Keo Pharmacy is beside Vieng Vilay guesthouse near the tube-rental building and staff speak great English, or there's another one opposite the hospital.

The post office is a couple kilometres north of town near the fresh market, but most shops that sell postcards can also sell you a stamp for it.

Internet cafes all over town charge a standard price of 300 kip per minute. Magnet Internet, the big purple building in the centre of town, has very fast connections and engages in the questionable practice of selling downloaded music and movies. CT Internet also has reliable highspeed access and new PCs with high-def headsets perfect for Skyping with friends and family back home. Printing costs 1000 kip per page and they also sell postcards, books, and memory cards for cameras. Some restaurants offer free WiFi for customers: try Sakura, Luang Prabang Bakery or the food and drink stand outside F-Shop convenience store.

There are a spots to exchange used books near the river, but you're better off saving them for Luang Prabang or Vientiane. F-Shop sells popular titles, maps and guidebooks, and all sorts of sundries from sunscreen to souvenir T-shirts.

Hobo Maps distribute an excellent map of Vang Vieng.

CT Internet / Magnet Internet: Open daily 08:00 -24:00
F-Shop: Open daily 07:30-23:00
Hospital: (023) 511 604
Keo Pharmacy: (023) 511 105

Get orientated with a map of Vang Vieng, Laos

Vang Vieng reviews

Backchat from the Travelfish community

Hints and warnings 09-10

A lot had changed in Vang Vieng within a year.

But the cheapest Internet was still opposite the Q-bar, 200 kip/minute, another option is to walk the main road to Pan's Place, they sell tickets for a few hours and this way they can give you cheaper minutes.

You can find slightly cheaper and good meals from the small family places on the same road than Sakura and Irish Bar.

Cheapest buckets are at Z-Bar, 10 000 kip, great food, nice staff, nice fireplace, chilled out, no hassle, just hammocks, pillows, and dancing under the sky or making new friends. You can practice with your devil sticks or ask from the staff for a little show with theirs... :)

Be careful with the tuk tuk drivers when getting back from the river. Make sure there's always a good flashlight and many friendly eyes witnessing when someone is giving the money to the driver -- always pay with small bills. A basic scam for the drivers is to claim that a 50,000 kip note was actually a 20,000 and make the person nervous because he never got the change, and when it gets ugly everyone is forced to change tuk tuk and looses what they have already given.

And I know there's now also locals trying to rob your ocean bag when you don't notice. I was lucky not to be that drunk when this guy came close to talk and I noticed what he was doing, just in time.

The police and the stories about them, I felt there's now more people than before trying to get their cut. Many places say it's okay to do whatever you want, even the staff you know and trust..until the cops come! There's no safe place in public, this I've seen myself. When it comes to the bungalows, I only heard rumors they might even search your room when you're away. But if you have at least US$500 extra pocket money, you can do whatever you want.

It's also okay to work in Vang Vieng and help the locals, but when the police hear you're about to leave, they might appear when your last days to get the big fine.

Be smart and go crazy, when it's still possible in Vang Vieng!:D
- Sights & activities
- History & culture
- Scenery & environment
- Eat & drink
- Traveller's scene
- Romance
- Value for money
- I'll be back (or not)
By Eday (dabbler)
Written on 6th November, 2010 after a visit to Vang Vieng in April, 2010
Two sides to the coin

Vang Vieng is a good example of Tourism Gone Wild, but it's almost worth going there just to see the circus in full-swing, plus there's some lovely natural beauty spots if you look for them.

In the town you can stare at red-faced, brain-dead, backpackers reclining in front of non-stop reruns of Friends and Family Guy, while depressed-looking locales shovel baguettes and banana shakes down their monged-out gullets. Once it hits 8 or 9pm the semi-bovine crowds shuffle into the bars where more depressed locals serve them copious amounts of alcohol, and watch as they spill out onto the roads, obstruct traffic, shout incomprehensible words, and fight each other (yep you guessed, most of the participants are British). Still, suppose it's a good laugh for a few days.

Plenty of cheap drugs on offer too, just ask for the happy menu, though be careful. Don't do anything on the streets, and don't light up in a bar unless you're 100% certain it's safe (I never saw any arrests etc, but heard way too many stories). Best bet is to stay at one of bungalows across the bamboo footbridge (Paradise bungalows is pretty good) and do your inhaling there. No police, and your in nice, natural, surrounds!

Other than drugs and booze, there are some cool caves and karsts to check out. All of the caves (to my knowledge) are across the bamboo footbridge so, again, if you're not too concerned with being a 10-minute walk away from all the video bars then it's best to stay somewhere in that area - you can just hire a bicycle and ride to the caves.
- Sights & activities
- History & culture
- Scenery & environment
- Eat & drink
- Traveller's scene
- Romance
- Value for money
- I'll be back (or not)
By surferRosa (dabbler)
Written on 31st December, 2009 after a visit to Vang Vieng in October, 2009
Stunning Vang Vieng

I was in two minds about going to Vang Vieng, having heard of its reputation for attracting the Truly Ghastly. Made the decision to go, and found the town itself pleasant, the townspeople friendly and the surrounding scenery STUNNING. Careful to avert my gaze from the Truly Ghastly, I busied myself exploring the town, taking photos, sampling some wonderful food and climbing up to Tham Jang cave for great views. The view from my hotel was also breathtaking, and I enjoyed sitting and having a leisurely breakfast by the Nam Song. Glad I went after all.
- Sights & activities
- History & culture
- Scenery & environment
- Eat & drink
- Traveller's scene
- Romance
- Value for money
- I'll be back (or not)
By Saphir (dabbler)
Written on 10th October, 2009 after a visit to Vang Vieng in June, 2009

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