We arrived in Vang Vieng via high-speed train from Luang Prabang to beautiful mountain views. The shared tuk-tuk dropped all 12 of us in the town and said “everyone get out here” so we walked to the hotel. This town in different – it has a quirky, small town western US vibe with a ton of young backpackers. It reminds us of Jaco, Costa Rico. Adventure trips monopolize the activities here and that’s why we came here. We explored the town starting @5p and stopped for a Beerlao before a delicious Lao dinner at Vela and a nightcap at Sakura Bar (we were way too early for the party crowd).
The next morning, we were picked up from our hotel for our adventure trip. After multiple stops for the crew to pick up kayaks/oars, smokes, meat on a stick and watermelon, we headed to our first location — the Elephant Cave, a historic spot with a golden Buddha. Then we drove a short distance to the “Tham Nam” (water cave). With headlamps, we jumped into tubes and pulled ourselves with ropes in a single file line into the cave. This 45-minute trip in the cave was Darryl’s favorite part of the day. The natural designs in the limestone ceilings and walls were stunning. We had to duck several times for the low ceiling as well as walk a bit when the water was too shallow.
Then, we went across a long swing bridge and walked up a few flights on the natural stone “steps” above the water cave to reach the treehouse for our first Zipline ride. The views from the top were breathtaking (sadly no photos as the phone was packed away for the ziplining). The last zipline ride was a “Superman” fly down to the front of the water cave (hands out, clip on back). We’ve ziplined before but it was our first Superman dive.
We then got back into the tuk-tuk to drive to the kayak launch spot. During this stunning 5km trip, I was mesmerized by the breathtaking beauty of the mountains and scenery of lush greenery and towering limestone cliffs. It was truly an awesome ride and my favorite trip of the day.
Darryl drove the Buggy car (think old rustic loud dune buggy) to the Blue Lagoon 3 (I think there are 4). The ride was much longer, dirtier and loud than expected and the roads here are horrific. We enjoyed a swim in the cool blue water before heading back in the Buggy.
The day was especially fun with the global mix of travelers on the trip. We chatted a lot with a couple from UK on a 6-month trip in Asia as well as several men from India, South Korea and China and three from France. I love talking travel journeys and we swapped recommendations here in Southeast Asia.
After a refreshing shower, we headed out to Kiwi Restaurant for a western meal – burger for Darryl and homemade spaghetti Bolognese for me – both were delicious. After this long adventurous day, we headed back to our resort (only by name).
The next day we took the high-speed train south to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. After we checked into the hotel, we enjoyed a walk in our neighborhood which we both really like. First stop was lunch – I had another delicious Lao noodle dish. We walked to one of the famous temples then onto the Patuxay – Victory Monument, the Arc de Triumph of Laos. The French influence dominates the architecture and food. We went to the Tipsy Elephant, recommended by a guy from the Netherlands during our cooking class. It’s a beautiful rooftop bar and we enjoyed the happy hour 2 for 1 Heinekens before heading to La Vendome for our French dinner. My asparagus appetizer was excellent. The snapper was good but the chocolate soufflé was unbelievably delicious. It was unexpectedly large and very light – a French food highlight for sure.
During our last full day in Laos, we walked to the COPE visitor center which was a similar display of the effects of cluster bombs here today like the one we visited and wrote about in Luang Prabang. We’re enjoying a relaxing afternoon and looking forward to another French dinner tonight.
I’ve really enjoyed our first visit to Laos. I’m not sure what I expected, but it is one of the poorest countries I’ve visited and it’s just a good reminder about how lucky we are to have been born in the US.
I am looking forward to our next destination as we leave for Vietnam tomorrow. We enjoyed it so much when we went with our kids 6 years ago that we wanted to come back and explore different regions of the country.
Traveling Walters 