Vang Vieng

Graffiti

Leaving Vientiane and the boat festival behind us we took a long, mountainous, and bumpy ride to Vang Vieng.

Vang Vieng has a reputation as a wild backpacker party spot in Laos, but apparently it's calmed down some. Still all the elements are there.

Tubing down the Mekong is a popular activity. However, rather than lazily floating down the river you're basically signing yourself up for the beer Olympics. Before our tubes had even touched water we were ushered to a riverside bar. Soon enough games of flip cup and beer pong were being played.

It took us about four hours to get to the stopping point and we stopped at about four bars along the way. It was low season so a lot of bars were closed. I'm sure the entire thing is an even crazier experience during high season, which would help explain the reports of people drowning.

Vang Vieng is also home to Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon was 4 miles from our hostel. We decided to mountain bike there. Why not get a little exercise, and save some $$$? 

This was a mistake.

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In a climate controlled gym 4 miles on a bike is nothing. However for about 1.5 hours of a 2 hour ride we biked on muddy, unpaved, pothole filled "roads." It was frustrating, especially seeing folks zoom by us on tuk tuks and motorbikes.

We eventually did make it and it was almost worth it. Blue lagoon consists of a lake and a cave. I enjoyed this cave a bit more than the one we visited in Vietnam. There were no lights or boardwalks here. You were given a headlight and left to your own devices. If you're like me, and quite adventurous, you'll thoroughly enjoy exploring.

After you're done spelunking (I only know this word from a Carmen San Diego computer game I played when I was 7 or 8) you can go chill in the lake or lay in the grass. There's also a restaurant serving everything from milkshakes to sandwiches.

The Blue Lagoon 

Friendly sign at The Blue Lagoon

After enjoying it all for a few hours we realized that we had to bike all the way back to our hostel. 

Yaaaay! 

 I really liked Vang Vieng's chill vibe, there were plenty of things to do, the food was good (I'd heard bad things about the food in Laos), and it was gorgeous. We had moves to make though, so after a while we set off for Luang Prabang. 

The gorgeous countryside in Vang Vieng