Vang Vieng

  Vang Vieng, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Thursday, April 27, 2006

We took a bus from Vientiane 3 hours north to a town called Vang Vieng. The bus was loaded up with passengers and our bags were strapped to the roof . Then they started to pack the aisle full of junk. Local people kept coming up to the bus and negotiating prices to have stuff transported to Vang Vieng. We were trapped in our seats. A huge metal electrical box came on board as well as coils of cable. Boxes and other items also filled the aisle. It was great fun for all of us to climb over it when we made a rest stop.

The road between the two places is good, but I guess it was a bit too winding for a one family on the bus. First the little boy started to get sick. The grandma tried to comfort him and rub his back, then she started and soon the young grand daughter followed. The poor family, the only one who didn't get sick was the mom.

The surrounding area here is stunning. The town itself is situated along a river. In the background are pointy mountains. The town is bizarre. It is in the middle of no where. It consists of only a few streets and looks like a western movie set. Dirt roads with buildings lined up on each side like saloons. Like so many other places the roads have all been dug up and are in a complete mess. We getting used to having to hike our way into restaurants! When it rained it turned into a knee deep mud pit.






The town of Vang Vieng is the finest example of how to let a town be spoiled by tourism. The streets are lined with cheap guest houses and restaurants serving crappy food. Many of the open air restaurants have platforms with cushions. You sit and eat your food from low tables in front of you. The worst part is that several of these places have blaring televisions playing non stop episodes of Friends. It's hard to find a place with out a t.v. at full volume. The large majority of travelers that come here are in their late teens. We felt very old. An activity for many of them is tubing down the river stoned or drunk out of their mind.

Despite all this we managed to find a nice bungalow at a resort on the river. It was in a quieter location and away from the majority of the chaos. We had a nice bungalow with a balcony that looked down at the river below. The restaurant was situated along side the river. It was a very tranquil place to sit. Fisherman would wade out into the water to put nets out. Some of them had large woven baskets for catching fish. They would stuff the baskets with tree branches and leaves and then submerge it in the water with the opening facing into the current. The small fish would go inside and then they would bring the basket up.

Our room and the view from the riverside restaurant


We enjoyed getting out of the town and exploring the beautiful surroundings. We rented bikes one day and road south from the town. It was about 6km's to a cave we wanted to check out. There are many caves around Vang Vieng to explore. More are being discovered all the time. Some of them you can swim into. Others are pitch black throughout and you have to have a strong torch. It's best to take a local guide with you to these ones. You could easily get lost inside.



It cost us $1 to rent the bikes for the day, but then we were charged 80cents to cross a river bridge with them. Somehow this pricing doesn't seem right. We're not even sure if the bridge toll is official. It was just some guy sitting there handing out paper tickets.



We had a pleasant ride through some rustic villages on the way to the cave. We passed by many farm fields with beautiful views of the mountains behind them. Peoples houses were made of woven bamboo. There were chickens and pigs running about freely. Many small children waved at us as we went passed. Bathing and cloth washing was being done in streams and ponds along the road.

Check out the barber shop and the gas station below.




We reached the cave site and had to pay $1 each to walk to where we could access the climb to it. Again I'm not sure what we are paying for. It's not like any maintenance is done to the cave or any service is being provided. Hopefully the money goes back into helping the community.

We had a steep climb ahead of us to get into the cave. It was 200 meters straight up the side of rock. It was slippery because it had just rained. You had to carefully plan each foot placement and grab onto tree roots and crevices in the rocks to pull yourself where possible. We made it to the entrance of the cave. There was natural light for the first part, but then we needed our flashlight to go in further. It was also very slippery inside the cave from the humidity and the seepage from the ground above. There were some stalactites inside the cave entrance. It opened up into an area with some natural light coming through a large hole again. The light shone through onto a reclining Buddha. The Buddha rested on a bright orange canopy bed. The cave went further into the darkness beyond the Buddha. By this time a few other travelers had joined us. They went to go check out where the cave went beyond the Buddha. None of them decided to go any further. It was pitch black, steep and slippery. Now the hard part was ahead of us, descending down the rock. There is a nice swimming hole near the cave. Perfect for a dip after all that strenous climbing.





There was a nice walking trail along the opposite side of the river from our guest house. We found another bridge further down that was free to cross. These bridges are nothing more than some bamboo sticks and boards. They are taken down and rebuilt each wet and dry season. The water level goes higher than the bridges in the wet season. The walk lets you take in all the activity that goes on around the river banks and in the water. We saw water buffalo sitting out in the middle of the river, with only their heads exposed. A few times one would come out of the water and start walking right at us. We were not sure if it would get aggressive or not so we would back away. They look pretty docile and seem to have about the same intelligence level as cows. The locals kids spend most of their days in river. They love to play in the wooden boats along the bank. They hop from one boat to the other. Some of the boats are half sunk and full of water.






We came across a small thatched river bar. It was quite funny. You have to picture this small bar in the middle of nothing. Just the river and surrounding land with the mountains in the background. In the river the bar owner has put some small platforms. Bamboo poles hold up covers over them to keep the sun off you. People laze around on them and take the occasional dip in the river. The bartender comes out to them to take your order and then brings your drinks back to you. What more could you ask for?



It seems the rainy season was well into its start while we were here. It poured rain most of the nights and had a few good rain falls in the daytime too. We saw the water level and the current of the river increase dramatically within a few days.

A Lao wedding took place in the town one evening. The reception and its blaring music went well into the night. They also did Karaoke, we could hear the sound clearly from our bungalow down the river.

See you in the next town.