Vang Vieng - an essential stop

Vang Vieng is just under half way between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Many travellers pass it by - big mistake. Small enough to have retained its charm, but large enough to have plenty to see and do, VV is an excellent spot to spend a couple of nights while touring the Lao highlands.

Fi and I catch a bus from Vientiane, and the lowland plain soon give way to hills and increasingly steep terrain, where the road grinds its way over steep passes to finally arrive in VV five hours later.


The limestone karsts of Halong Bay look like they've been transposed to the Laotian highlands.



First step is deciding what tour we want to take, and the caving/kayaking combo looks the best. As usual, we meet up with other travellers, and join forces with Tara, an English girl from Brighton. We discover she almost splits Fi's and my ages, but we get on fine despite the half-generational gap.


The caving is brilliant. With lights strapped to our head, we tube in to the cave and head upstream for half an hour or so. At the odd spot we need to get out and walk - a bit reminiscent of the Cu Chi tunnels - but soon we're back in the tubes again sculling our way up against the gentle current. A bit cool, but at one stage a hot spring feeds the stream and we enjoy a warm bath. Having spotted the tiny bats in the cave roof we turn around and head back to the entrance.


Time for a bit of sunbathing before lunch.

We take in a reclining cave Buddha - time to contemplate our increased physical activity in the afternoon.


Next step is in to the kayaks for a blast downstream, with a few minor rapids to add a bit of excitement. Tara and Fi share a double while I'm in a single. It takes them a while to get used to tandem paddling and steering, but get the hang of it ok.

With memories of my unplanned dip in the Wanganui River in January, my camera is safely stowed in the drybag, but we don't have any incidents.


In true tourist fashion we stop at a drinks station on the river for a bit of liquid refreshment. The place is pumping - loud western music, Beer Lao, whiskey buckets, and sunbaked Westerners everywhere. Hardly an authentic Lao experience, but a lot of fun anyway.

Fi and Tara have a go at the swing - about 15m above the river, and with good momentum you can drop about 10m at the other end. More cautious swingers come back for a modest 3m drop in to the water. I pass as my left shoulder's still giving me a bit of trouble.

Fi and Tara were appropriately dressed in T shirts over their bikini tops. Fortunate, as a couple of the bikini-only girls lost their tops on the way - to their mortification and early high plunge in to the river, but much to the amusement of the boys.



Fi celebrates half a dozen jumps with a well-deserved Beer Lao. A very tasty drop by the way - Vietnamese, Cambodian and Lao beers come highly commended. You can also get a very good dark Beer Lao - not dissimilar to a Speights Old Dark.




We pull in to our disembarkation point well satisfied with our afternoon's efforts. We're also pleased we chose the kayaking option, as we could have tubed the river instead. But tubing is slower, you're at a bit more risk of bruises over the rapids, and the last couple of hours are very cold once the sun dips below the hills.

We say goodbye to Tara after dinner. She's staying another day at VV while Fi and I head north to Luang Prabang. But she's following us up the following day, and we may well catch up again.