Our next destination is Vang Vieng. The way there is the nicest part of Laos so far.

Along the Way

The town itself is known for its tubing, floating down the river on a big tube, and for its nightlife. A few years ago, there were many bars, zip lines and death rides along the river but many were forced to close due to the many lethal accidents. The year they were closed, there had been a total of 24 deaths. Since then the scenery of Vang Vieng has changed to be more relaxed.

Riverside in Vang Vieng

Renting a tube costs around 5 euro. We prefer to use this money on different activities: we visit the Elephant Cave which is named after the elephant carved out of the rocks. We also go tubing in a cave for only 1 euro. The tubing is fun, especially because we are all alone in the cave.

Caving and Tubing

Finally we want to visit another cave, one which has a lagoon. On the way to the cave we hear that there is little water in the lagoon and that the cave is closed at 4pm, so we can’t make it anyway. Luckily, it’s a nice walk through the rice fields overlooking the limestone rock formations. The next day, we go for a swim in the river that runs through the city. There we are joined by Laotian children who want to play with us. It rains for the rest of the day so we relax in our room.

Vang Vieng is really Beautiful

More info on www.wijzijnweg.org