Leaving Luang Prabang was difficult and being that Vang Vieng was our next destination made it even more so. From what we had heard and/or read about the place, both Jen and I were torn as to whether or not we should even bother. On one hand, we heard that you could spend the day tubing down the Mekong, while making the occasional pit stop at a multitude of riverside bars. Sounds alright . . . On the other hand, we heard the place was overrun with TV bars showing either Friends, Family Guy, or The Simpsons. Wait a second, how is this a bad thing?After a 7 hour trip aboard a "VIP" bus, we arrived in Vang Vieng. For the life of me, I have no idea what those 3 letters stand for in Laos because this bus ride was anything but “VIP”. The trip was only supposed to take 4 hours but I guess it’s hard to keep a schedule when your bus is incapable of making it uphill on the first attempt. The routine was that it would chug uphill as far as it could go (which wasn’t much) until the engine shut off. Then the driver would roll down the hill in neutral, until he could finally get the thing into gear and reattempt the ascent. Ultimately the bus broke just broke down furthering our delay.
When we finally reached our destination, what we saw confirmed our initial, indecisive thoughts. The town itself could best be described as Koh Phang Ngan’s ugly sister. Don’t get me wrong, I love Friends and Family Guy as much as the next person, but this seemed a bit much. It’s as if someone in the town got wind that backpackers like to watch TV and drink beer at the same time and the idea exploded. You couldn’t walk more than a minute without hearing Ross’ annoying voice. The charm of Luang Prabang was nowhere to be found. Yet at the same time, the surrounding landscape was some of the most spectacular we had seen in Laos, with the Nam Song River and a beautiful mountain range only a stone’s throw away.
The next day, we rented mountain bikes to check out the area. Our first stop was an organic mulberry farm and restaurant situated along the Nam Song about 5 km north of town. What’s a mulberry you ask? I have no idea but it makes for a great fruit shake. Toss in the homemade goat cheese and the restaurant was a definite treat. Not to mention that the farm supported numerous development activities in the area, such as financing a school bus for local children. While enjoying our tasty meal, we realized that we were mere feet from the tubing launch spot. How did we know this? Well the endless pumping of Akon’s “I Wanna Make Love” and Rihanna was a definite giveaway. It really was quite a sight. Imagine elevated decks lining the river complete with swings, zip lines, and giant water slides. Crazy! I hate to say it but as fun as this may sound, it really put us off the whole tubing idea. Dang, I think we are getting old!!! (Perhaps if the water appeared more than two feet deep, we may have been swayed . . . the end of dry season seemed to be a dangerous time to engage in these kinds of activities.)
We continued our bike ride and decided to check out some of the local caves. Only 20 minutes west from town (across the river) we reached a relatively small rock formation (I think karst is the proper term. This word is all over our Lonely Planet, but I had to look it up . . .) which housed not only a cave mid way, but a great viewpoint at the top. After paying our mandatory 10,000 kip each to the “ticket booth” at the bottom, we started the steep climb up jagged limestone and sketchy looking bamboo bridges and ladders. The cave was interesting enough but what made the approximately 500 meter climb worthwhile was the viewpoint, which offered us a spectacular panorama of Vang Vieng’s surrounding areas. After taking in the amazing scenery we started our descent, which not surprisingly was a bit tough. I don’t think flip-flops would be considered proper footwear for the terrain.
The next day, instead of tubing (did I mention we were a little put off by it?) we decided to join a kayak tour along the Nam Song river. The tour was a combination of kayaking and trekking to a couple of nearby caves. As usual we started off the day with a good hearty breakfast at our guesthouse’s restaurant. What made the breakfast a bit more enjoyable was the airing of Family Guy in the background. (While I still didn’t like the fact that you couldn’t find any Lao culture whatsoever in Vang Vieng, I decided a little Family Guy in the morning wouldn’t harm anyone.)
Starting about 10 km north of town, the kayaking was a great alternative way to enjoy the river. Our first stop of the day brought us to the Nam Tha cave which provided us a bit of a challenge because, as advised by the tour operator, both Jen and I once again had only our trusted flip-flops which didn’t always provide the best of grip on wet rock. As we continued our kayak ride down the river, both Jen and I started to get a feeling of deja vu. It wasn’t that we recognized our surroundings but that we started to hear the faint, yet unmistakable sound of Akon. As we got a little closer, Rihanna’s Disturbia pierced it’s way into our ears. Yup, we were close to the tubing bars. Now I know that I’ve only mentioned two musical artists here, but really, it was as if the multitude of bars all had the same playlist and they simply pressed play at different times. Anyways, our initial view of the river bars turned out to be merely a glimpse. Not to repeat myself, but it was really quite a sight. It was as if every family that lived along the river had bought some Beer Lao and a cooler, strung up a rope for swinging, and opened up a makeshift bar where falang could get wasted in their bikinis. I wouldn’t trust the construction of most of the swings, and definitely not the slides. (We actually heard that a South Korean girl had died on one of the slides only weeks prior to our visit.) A bit eerie and even more sad though was that many of the bars were completely empty. I suppose the result of low season combined with economic downturn . . . or maybe more people like us deciding it was all just too much.
We reached our second cave shortly after we passed the row of bars and this one was definitely more intimidating. It wasn’t just that the the total length of the cave was around 13 km but mostly because no one had ever gone all the way through. (How then, do they know it is 13 km you ask? I’ve no idea and didn’t get an answer from our guide . . . ) As well, we learned midway through the tour, this was only our guide’s third time visiting this particular cave. As it turned out, the cave was not that bad (although I did slip down a muddy hill) and we turned around after about going about 3 km in.
After our time in Vang Vieng, I still have to say that we both have mixed feelings about the place. We both loved the scenery and the surrounding areas, and we had a good time kayaking and exploring the caves. In terms of the town, it just seems a pity. Yeah, the TV and movie bars are definitely a guilty pleasure that we both took advantage of once or twice, but it’s difficult to see what could be a beautiful little town stripped of all its culture simply to entertain a bunch of tourists. (Ok, I’m possibly being a bit harsh and hypocritical . . . )
Photos at http://gallery.me.com/adamschen
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