Vang Vieng
ByThe small provincial town of Vang Vieng crouches under towering craggy mountains swathed in rich green tropical vegetation. Hundreds of limestone caves, some dedicated to scared purposes, some so extensive that they offer practical routes right through mountains attract visitors from other parts of Lao and beyond. The beautiful sparkling Nam Xong (Song River) ripples past the town giving the area huge appeal.
Wonderful scenery and the wide range of tourist activities have marked the town out as one of the three principal tourist attractions in Laos. The other two are the capital, Vientiane and Louang Phabang, further north.
In a small boat gently purring up the river through spectacular scenery we encountered a herd of water buffalos revelling in the cool water. Only big black noses and long curved horns broke the surface leaving a smooth swirl of water as they submerged at the approach of our boat. Opposite a riverside pagoda four young monks with saffron loin cloths beamed and waved to us as they swam or paddled in the shallows.
Further upstream we exchanged shouted greetings to people tubing down the river. As an ultimate relaxation drifting down a slow tropical river under a clear blue sky lounging in the inner tube of a tractor tyre takes a lot of beating. For the more energetic water users there are high swings from trees or jumping off of bamboo platforms on cliffs.
The lure of the mountain paths were strong. A day of hard walking and scrambling over rocks to reach caves high on a cliff took the sole off of one of Allan’s boots. Margaret’s boots were also seriously weakened, as much by four years of tropical climate, as by the pounding of our treks. But these treks were superb.
Serious outdoor adventure attracts the young and energetic and we had heard that the town had acquired a reputation for high spirits, drugs and alcohol. Whilst some cafes offered happy menus with marijuana and other drugs incorporated in the food and drink we saw only the young people of many nations enjoying themselves without excessive drunkenness or bad behaviour.
Running along the edge of the town is a long tarmac airstrip which is used as the bus station. Chatting to some of the locals we found that it was a former American airstrip used for the fighters that supported massive bombing raids in the 60s and 70s. Bombing missions covered the length of Laos in an attempt to interrupt the traffic on the Ho Chi Minh trail taking supplies into southern Vietnam. The other main targets were the communist Pathet Lao troops fighting in central Laos. We were to hear much more about this and see evidence of the bombing later in our trip.
