Vang Vieng, Laos

After our time in the elegant and charming Luang Prabang, we headed south for a completely different experience in Vang Vieng. VV rose to notoriety through its popular tubing activity. Essentially, one would rent a tube for a day and then float down the river passing numerous bars and swing ropes. The Laos government cracked down on the tubing industry after many tourist deaths (heavy drinking and watersports don't usually mix well). There are still remnants of this industry dictating the atmosphere in Vang vieng, but apparently nothing compared to what it was a few years ago. As sane individuals and recovering lifeguards, everything about tubing sounded abhorrent. We were reluctant to even go to VV, but long buses are never fun and it was a good way to break up the trip to Vientiane.

One of the two streets in Vang Vieng.

We stayed for two nights in VV. On the first night we partook in another VV staple, the "TV bar." Aka 70% of the bars and restaurants there have large televisions that constantly play reruns of friends, family guy, or how I met your mother. The bars were spacious with lots of room to lay about like you were on your couch back home. Although fun at first, after two episodes of friends we felt like our brains were turning to mush. We retreated to the back of the bar where we could look out at the beautiful scenery not the tv screen. 

View from the restaurant.

Needless to say, the food at restaurants famous for friend's reruns left much to be desired. 

Anna's pumpkin soup... I don't even know how they managed to produce such an unappetizing colour. 

She didn't really enjoy the meal...

However, VV isn't all tubing and tv. It's located in a truly beautiful area. There are many caves and hikes nearby to enjoy. We didn't have enough time to do anything too substantial, but we did enjoy a short meander outside the city boundaries.

 

Walking through the woods around VV.

Jasmine on a one of the sturdier bridges we have hiked across.

En route to the closest cave to VV!

I think we made the most of an unusual place, but we were glad to depart to Vientiane at the end of it.