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Region: Vientiane And Surrounds> Province: Vientiane>Location: Vang Vieng
Vang Vieng sights and attractions
Rock Climbing - Great location
Description
During the high season Green Discovery and Laos Rock Climbing offer rock climbing in Vang Vieng. Both do a one-day course including tuition, and have all the gear you need available for rent. The course can be extended to two or three days for more advanced training. The instruction and climbing routes cover different levels of skill under the watchful eye of foreign instructors. Each day includes transport, instruction and lunch. Green Discovery price (based on 3 people sharing) $20 per person. Private tour 1 person $45, 2 people $30 per person If you book the whole 3 day course, the cost is $18 per person per day. Gear rental for 1 day: full set for 2 people $25. Laos Rock Climbing Shop prices are about 15% more expensive, but has a more professional approach and the instructors inspire greater confidence.
Caving, Trekking & Kayaking - Great potential
Description
The stunning limestone mountains that tower over Vang Vieng are riddled with caves. Some are large, with spectacular formations, and some are small -- a tight squeeze to get through. Some are filled with water, and it's possible to swim or kayak through, and some have become sites of worship, with Buddha images on display.
It's possible to visit most of these caves, either by yourself or with an organised tour. Daytrips can be booked at many of the guesthouses and tour companies in town, and usually involve a combination of caving, trekking, kayaking, tubing on the river and visiting some of the local ethnic minority villages. A two-day trip includes a visit to the Organic Farm and overnighting in tents or field houses is also available. Trips usually include an English speaking guide (of varying ability) and meals.
With the exception of those organised by Green Discovery, all of the trips which can be booked around town are a part of the same co-operative arrangement. This means that the same set of guides operate the same set of six trips, irrespective of where the trip was booked. There's little difference in prices between booking agents, but it's worth referencing a few prices against each other to make sure you're not getting ripped off. Daytrips should cost about $12, two day trips $35, while a half-day is around $8. Guides from the co-operative have variable levels of experience and English language skills, and the equipment is sometimes old and worn. If you are going, ensure you know all details about who will be taking you and ask to see the equipment.
One of the more remarkable of the co-operative trips is an interesting way to break up a journey to Vientiane. The trip involves travel by pickup for 40km to the Nam Lik river followed by 17km of white-water kayaking and river jumping. The group is then collected by pickup and taken on a further 70km to Vientiane, arriving the same day. A two-day journey is also possible, with the second day spent on the fascinating Nam Ngum artificial lake, Laos' most significant fishery resource, followed kayaking down the Nam Ngum river. This stretch of river is however rather slow flowing and needs more paddle power to keep going when compared to Nam Lik and Nam Song rivers. The single day Vientiane trip is $20, while two day experience is $50.
Green Discovery, formerly known as Wildside, has offices throughout Laos, operate a series of standard one or two day tours in Vang Vieng and can offer tailor-made packages. They are about 25% more expensive than the co-operative groups, but offer a little more variety and the group sizes are generally smaller. Guides are better trained than those at the co-operative, and this is especially important during high flows.
It's possible to visit some of the closer caves independently. Hand drawn maps giving directions are available in a number of shops, costing 2-5,000 kip. It's best to hire a bicycle or motorbike to get the 3-10 km, or to hire one of the tractor/tuktuks which can be found along the main street with signs saying they'll take you to the caves for about 5,000 kip person (with about 6 people). Be warned, it's common for an entirely different fee to be demanded for the return journey: negotiate your return price in advance.
The most popular cave is Poukham, 7km away. An entrance fee of 5,000 kip gets you access to a reclining Buddha inside but the main attraction is the swimming lagoon with gorgeous green-blue waters. The lagoon and the cave are the main attraction on the loop, a route on the right side of the Nam Song popular with (motor)cyclists and trekkers. With a further five caves, three villages and several river crossings along the way, the heads west through rice fields and deep into karst country before swinging back on itself, and returning to Vang Vieng Town along a different track.
Another favourite cave is the large Tham Nawn, about 4km north of Vang Vieng. It's known as the sleeping cave because during the war locals took refuge and slept there to avoid being bombed. Very popular with tour groups. Entrance is 5,000 kip.
Tham Hoy is a large cave which runs at least 7km deep. It is 15km from the town and hiring a guide is recommended. Entrance is 5,000 kip, but it's also possible to go with some of the group day trips run by guesthouses. Locals catch the bats to eat by splashing water up on their wings so they fall.
Tham Chang is a largish and well-lit cave near the Vang Vieng Resort. Popular with tourists, even though it's not the most spectacular, it does have a lookout point with a great view back over Vang Vieng, the river and mountains. Entrance 9,000 kip.
'Tubing Cave' is a cave frequently visited by day trippers. You can tube into the cave, then guides will point out a spot to leave the tubes behind while you climb through the cave. The opening gets smaller and smaller as you progress through, eventually looping back to the point you left your inner tubes. Usually visited on day trips.
Other caves are being discovered and made available to tourists all the time. Look out for signposts to caves not named on the maps and expect to pay 5,000kip entrance. To ensure the most from the cave visits, take a torch.
River Tubing - Very popular
Description
One of the most popular pastimes in Vang Vieng is to hire an enormous tyre inner tube, be driven a couple of kilometres upstream, and launched into the water. The river generally flows at a slow but steady pace, and the idea is to relax and absorb the scenery as you float back to Vang Vieng.
This 'sport' can be practised in a number of places in Laos, but nowhere is the view as spectacular as here with karst limestone mountains lining the route. Caves are well sign-posted and it's easy to take a break from tubing and go exploring. A number of enterprising people have set up bamboo bars along the river's banks, where you can stop for a beer and further chill out.
These bars have flourished and have now become an attraction in themselves, with tubers spending the whole afternoon relaxing riverside. Now equipped with music, volleyball, rattanball and petanque courts and selling food, the bars are diversifying. The most significant addition to the bars in recent years are the rope swing and cable arrangements which now criss-cross the upper reaches of the Nam Song where there are deep pools. Going by various names, the swings and cables are free to customers of the bars, who spend the afternoon pitching themselves into the river from the swings and cables. .
Inner tubes and transport upstream to the launching place is a part of a co-operative Village Development Group arrangement. The co-operative building is found in town where the old market was. Daily tube rental until 6pm and tuk-tuk transport to the put-in point at the Organic Farm costs 35,000 kip. Agents around town charge up to $6 for the same service. Dry bags can be rented for $1.
Do be careful while tubing and jumping from great heights into the river. Several people have died on the river whilst tubing. While the pace is generally slow, in the dry season tubes can get caught on rocks, and in the wet season the river speeds up and there are deep patches and a current. Make sure you're a confident swimmer and tell your friends where you're going.
(Motor) cycling - Head out on the highway
Description
The flat country around Vang Vieng is easy to explore on two wheels. With dozens of caves, the blue lagoon, the loop and the Nam Song river all within easy reach of a dirt track at various points, a (motor)cycle is the most effective way to get about independently and see what's on offer. Bicycle hire costs $1 per day for street bikes, and $2 for mountain bikes. A full day of motorcycle hire is priced at $5.
Lao Massage - Just lie back
Description
After all of the strenuous activity, there's no better way to get into inactivity than with a Lao massage. Dotted along Main Street and adjoining roads are over ten massage rooms. Camphor, lemongrass and eucalyptus aromas float from shopfronts throughout the day and night, tempting in the exhausted. An hour of horizontal manipulation is priced at $3, and two hours at $5. Swedish and Thai traditional massage are also available.