TubingLaos.com

Vang Vieng (also Vang Viang) is a tiny riverside town in Laos. Once no more than a bus changing station on the long haul between Vientiane at the Thai border and the World Heritage Site of Luang Prabang, it has managed to become a destination in its own right , world famous for tubing in Nam Song river. Still not much more than three streets and a bus station, the main attractions are the river, laid back countryside and cave-filled rock formations. Originally opened up by hedonistic backpackers, it is now host to numerous internal tourists and more sedate foreign sightseers. Vang Vieng is between Vientiane and Luang Prabang – by bus (road and bus conditions permitting) about 6-8 hours from Luang Prabang, around 3-4 hours from Vientiane. Buses to Vientiane leave bright and early between 05:00 and 07:00 and cost a fixed 25,000 kip; you can also try to share a tuk-tuk for slightly more. Less crowded and more humanely timed tourist buses leave at 10:00 and 13:30 (in theory – they tend to wait until full before departing) and cost US$4. A minibus leaves at 09:00 and costs US$5. Tickets can be bought in almost every guesthouse (for a US$1 commission). Touts offer cyclo or taxi rides from the bus station into town, but it’s only a 5-10 minute walk to the center, and about a 2 minute walk out the other side. One would be remiss to visit Vang Vieng and not venture outside of the central area of town. A number of transportation options are available. Tuk Tuks are easy to find for quick and convenient transportation. Bike rentals are widely available and can be rented from hotels or local businesses. You should not have to pay over 10,000 kip for a day’s rental. For the more adventurous, motorcycle rentals are also widely available. As with bicycles these can be rented from hotels or businesses. Bear in mind, however, that your hotel is likely to add 10,000 kip to the price of the rental. It’s quite easy to rent a motorcycle from a local business for only 30,000 kip for the entire day. Hotels will tend to charge 40,000. Tours of the surrounding area are also easily arranged. The tours will take you to all of the major sights. You might swim in the local caves, then drift downriver on an inner tube, and see the local landscape. Tours should cost around 80,000 kip or less. Locals accept Thai baht and US dollars, as well as Laos kip. There is one government office that changes traveller’s checks. There is one ATM that now take all major credit cards but is known for running out of cash. If these cases or with cards that are not accepted you can take money out at one of the bank, make sure you have your passport ready and if it’s not a recognized institution they won’t let you take money out. The Lao Development Bank changes money at good rates and processes cash advances. All your basic backpacker fare and a few local dishes. See the Laos article for more about local food. There are numerous places specialising in pizza, which is fresh but often of indifferent quality. Many will frown this type of activity, but many restaurants along the main road also offer “special” shakes and pizzas of various sorts, just be careful! There are now a couple of halfway-decent midrange “hotels” and attempts at boutique style residences. Generally though, double rooms go for US$1-5, make sure you see the room (and bathroom!) before paying. More local, low-key (which is pretty low-key in Vang Viang to start with) places are by the market and more shiny set ups are on the main road.