Vang Vieng is a bizarre contradiction
of riverine landscape of black karst and sleepy rice fields and late night
party scene on Don Khang (aka Party island). Till August 2012 this place was
packed with tourist who mostly came here to ‘tube’ down stream of the Nam Ou
river and stop at every bar for a drink which resulted in accidents and even
regular deaths due to accidents. This time the government did take action and
closed all the bars down along the river and there’s a curfew at 23.00 in town.
I arrived with a sceptical feeling due to these reports and experiences from other travellers at Vang Vieng with my new travel companion Kiki (a Dutch teenager traveling after high school). I noticed immediately that the town was very quiet but packed with little shops, bars, restaurants and many food carts in the street. Where was everyone was the first thing I’ve asked myself?
The atmosphere of the town itself is one of lethargy by day and debauchery by night: tourists sprawl out in the pillow-filled restaurants, termed "TV Bars", watching re-runs of US sitcoms, Friends and Family Guy episodes until the sun goes down while sipping on a fruit shake, beer or eat some Western food. In the evening it’s time to party.
The next day I went tubing with Kiki and some other travellers and I was surprised that I really liked it. The landscape is beautiful and you’ll pass it slowly in your tube downstream. There are only 2 bars re-opened after the closing down so very hard to get drunk or get into a party mood. The trip downstream can be done in 2-3 hours if you don’t stop and paddle your way down but we managed to do it in 6 as we enjoyed it so much and had regular stops to rest.
In the evening you have dinner at one of the many restaurants who show movies or the US sitcoms but if you opt for a quieter environment than this is possible. Again there’s a curfew so around 22.00 the restaurants close but only ‘crazy monkey’ bar has a license to serve alcohol till 23.45 so that’s where everyone is heading for a last drink. However if you prefer to continue drinking and even dance than you need to head The Moon which is a local disco on the outskirts of the town and much fun till 2am.
Sadly after two lovely and relaxed days in Vang Vieng with my fellow travels a very grey cloud appeared on my horizon as in one day I had the following experiences.
During the day my debit card was swallowed by the ATM luckily after an hour anxious wait a kind bank employee retrieved it from the insides of the machine so I was very much relieved and happy to be reunited with my plastic card.
That evening we were booked for a sunset hot air balloon flight which ended unfortunately with a visit to the tourist police. Due to the weather the balloon wasn’t able to stay in the air and pass the mountains for the expected view of the river and sunset. After 45 minutes the trip was finished and a start of a very annoying, un-satisfying discussing with the company to get some kind of refund for this trip. I experienced a very nasty conversation with the agent who booked the trip for us who after 15 minutes refused to talk to us and suggested we would go to the tourist police. As we were at our wits end we went there with hopeful expectations. After half an hour of interrogation of the ‘police’ (they are actually military) I realized that they are fed up with tourists and that they won’t cooperate or assist you with your issues. I filed a report but knew this won’t lead to anything, after a finger pointing outburst from the guy who said you can take the offer to have the flight tomorrow morning again or you leave now! We were both shocked and agreed to take the offer and change or busses to leave the next morning to get at least the chance to make use of the $80 price tag. In fairness the sunrise flight the next morning was beautiful and we felt that we got worth for our money in the end...
When we returned to our hotel we were in need of dinner and a beer so we left to go out only to return 2 hours later to get ready for an early start. But the day wasn’t over yet so next disaster struck; my camera was missing from the room but no signs of a break-in! Later we found out that one of the windows wasn’t locked (we never checked this) so I can only assume that this was the entry point for an unwanted visitor. I wasn’t happy at all especially when no sympathy from the hotel owner who said it wasn’t possible that someone had entered the room.
So the next morning I had to visit my ‘friends’ at the tourist police station again as I wanted to have my needed form (proof) for my insurance. As you can image I went there with sand in my shoes as I knew they wouldn’t welcome me after last night. Unfortunately, this was the case and I was told to go back and search the room properly, talk to the owner as they wouldn’t issue a report or some sort of proof that I informed them of my loss.
It was the 13th March and I felt that Laos wasn’t pleased with my visit or at least the town of Vang Vieng. I took the bus later that morning deflated and ready to leave this country but wanted to give them and myself another change.
My view is that some parts of Laos are fed-up with tourists as they invaded their beautiful country who - in Vang Viengs case- don’t appreciate the beauty only trashed the place with drunkenness and accidents. So I can empathise with them on that level but due our presence, Vang Vieng or other places have been put on the Laos map and accumulated work for many locals. I’m afraid that in a couple of years’ time most backpackers will not stop off at Vang Vieng anymore with enormous consequences for the population.
I arrived with a sceptical feeling due to these reports and experiences from other travellers at Vang Vieng with my new travel companion Kiki (a Dutch teenager traveling after high school). I noticed immediately that the town was very quiet but packed with little shops, bars, restaurants and many food carts in the street. Where was everyone was the first thing I’ve asked myself?
The atmosphere of the town itself is one of lethargy by day and debauchery by night: tourists sprawl out in the pillow-filled restaurants, termed "TV Bars", watching re-runs of US sitcoms, Friends and Family Guy episodes until the sun goes down while sipping on a fruit shake, beer or eat some Western food. In the evening it’s time to party.
The next day I went tubing with Kiki and some other travellers and I was surprised that I really liked it. The landscape is beautiful and you’ll pass it slowly in your tube downstream. There are only 2 bars re-opened after the closing down so very hard to get drunk or get into a party mood. The trip downstream can be done in 2-3 hours if you don’t stop and paddle your way down but we managed to do it in 6 as we enjoyed it so much and had regular stops to rest.
In the evening you have dinner at one of the many restaurants who show movies or the US sitcoms but if you opt for a quieter environment than this is possible. Again there’s a curfew so around 22.00 the restaurants close but only ‘crazy monkey’ bar has a license to serve alcohol till 23.45 so that’s where everyone is heading for a last drink. However if you prefer to continue drinking and even dance than you need to head The Moon which is a local disco on the outskirts of the town and much fun till 2am.
Sadly after two lovely and relaxed days in Vang Vieng with my fellow travels a very grey cloud appeared on my horizon as in one day I had the following experiences.
During the day my debit card was swallowed by the ATM luckily after an hour anxious wait a kind bank employee retrieved it from the insides of the machine so I was very much relieved and happy to be reunited with my plastic card.
That evening we were booked for a sunset hot air balloon flight which ended unfortunately with a visit to the tourist police. Due to the weather the balloon wasn’t able to stay in the air and pass the mountains for the expected view of the river and sunset. After 45 minutes the trip was finished and a start of a very annoying, un-satisfying discussing with the company to get some kind of refund for this trip. I experienced a very nasty conversation with the agent who booked the trip for us who after 15 minutes refused to talk to us and suggested we would go to the tourist police. As we were at our wits end we went there with hopeful expectations. After half an hour of interrogation of the ‘police’ (they are actually military) I realized that they are fed up with tourists and that they won’t cooperate or assist you with your issues. I filed a report but knew this won’t lead to anything, after a finger pointing outburst from the guy who said you can take the offer to have the flight tomorrow morning again or you leave now! We were both shocked and agreed to take the offer and change or busses to leave the next morning to get at least the chance to make use of the $80 price tag. In fairness the sunrise flight the next morning was beautiful and we felt that we got worth for our money in the end...
When we returned to our hotel we were in need of dinner and a beer so we left to go out only to return 2 hours later to get ready for an early start. But the day wasn’t over yet so next disaster struck; my camera was missing from the room but no signs of a break-in! Later we found out that one of the windows wasn’t locked (we never checked this) so I can only assume that this was the entry point for an unwanted visitor. I wasn’t happy at all especially when no sympathy from the hotel owner who said it wasn’t possible that someone had entered the room.
So the next morning I had to visit my ‘friends’ at the tourist police station again as I wanted to have my needed form (proof) for my insurance. As you can image I went there with sand in my shoes as I knew they wouldn’t welcome me after last night. Unfortunately, this was the case and I was told to go back and search the room properly, talk to the owner as they wouldn’t issue a report or some sort of proof that I informed them of my loss.
It was the 13th March and I felt that Laos wasn’t pleased with my visit or at least the town of Vang Vieng. I took the bus later that morning deflated and ready to leave this country but wanted to give them and myself another change.
My view is that some parts of Laos are fed-up with tourists as they invaded their beautiful country who - in Vang Viengs case- don’t appreciate the beauty only trashed the place with drunkenness and accidents. So I can empathise with them on that level but due our presence, Vang Vieng or other places have been put on the Laos map and accumulated work for many locals. I’m afraid that in a couple of years’ time most backpackers will not stop off at Vang Vieng anymore with enormous consequences for the population.
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| Tubing |
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| kiki and Angel |
Tubing does look like fun! Even I'd be up for that, and you know how risk-averse I am! What a shame you had the horrible things after that happen. But I'm glad you were safe, that's the main thing. Did you have another camera?
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