Laos - Vang Vieng

Although not far from Vientiane, the trip to Vang Vieng took about 6 hours. The roads are not good and when you get into the mountains the narrow roads and the occasional large truck make for a slow trip.

Mini vans are the preferred mode of transport here and can be easily booked at the hotel or in one of dozens of places in each town we stayed in in Laos.

Vang Vieng is on the banks of the Nam Song river and is a popular destination for tubing and kayaking. The government has had a massive cleanup here as the town used to be a mecca where cheap drugs and alcohol were available. (BeerLao costs only 15,000 kip but the drugs are gone.) We found no sign of the wild drunken parties that had occured in the the past.

Vang Vieng - this street is one block away from the river

The river Nam Song from the balcony of our villa.

Nam Song

The restaurant and bar here are pleasant places to enjoy sun downers after a busy day.

Local traffic on the main highway.

Safe swimming in the Nam Song River

Unloading ready for a relaxing return to Vang Vieng, 8 km downstream.

Rest spot

One of the musts for nearly all is a very relaxing paddle down the river and a stop off to enjoy the odd refreshment and food at one of several conveniently located cafes. Before heading off back to Vang Vieng in the late afternoon sun.

Having had a great day on the river tubing 1 km into a cave and kayaking 8 km back to Vang Vieng, I was surprised to hear voices just outside and slightly above.

20 m from the front of our villa - late afternoon

Drifting up stream

Early next morning

A relaxing way to see the countryside in the morning.

Our next stop was Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars. This involved another 6 hour trip and around 150 km over the mountains and narrow rough roads.

My next blog has photos and an account of this rather unique archaeological area where elephants played an important role.