Vang Vieng, Laos

We arrived to Vang Vieng by minivan from Luang Prabang. There had been some attacks to tourist vans by rebel groups in this route in the past, and people's experiences with the winding bumpy roads were mixed. I didn't know what to expect. In the end, the drive was utterly pleasant. The road winds about between mountains, alternating between valleys full of rice fields and small villages, and mountain tops in the clouds. Very scenic. I even managed to do a bit of reading, listened to music and slept. It was a fast 4-5 hours trip.
The mini van dropped us off at a place that looked as if it was the middle of nowhere. But when I pulled out my map, it was basically behind the town's main street. We (btw, by we I mean my friend Ziga and I) walked around town, trying to get a good sunset view. The sun here gets lost rather early behind the huge mountains in the background of town. A very beautiful sight. We searched for a way across tbe river to the other side of town, and first found a bridge you need to pay to cross. We turned around, walked the opposite direction, and found a free crossing bamboo bridge in the heart of town. We went down to the river, had a drink at a small bar with floating seating, and dinner at a Bamboo tree restaurant. And that was our first, pretty good, day here.
Second day, after a good omelette with nice warm baguette to go with it, we rented mountain bikes and went for a ride. We first went to a small cave 5 minute ride from the main street, after crossing over the bridge. We went in the cave for about three minutes, and then climbed the top of the little mountain it's in. The view from uo there was well worth the climb. We then made our way to the beautiful blue lagoon and Tham pukham cave, about 5km from town. A pretty easy ride. On our way, a group of 5-6 year old kids wanted a picture for money, which, needless to say, we didn't do. They climbed on the back of my bike, and fooled around a bit until they got bored and left. We reached the lagoon at a good time of the day, when tourist were at a minimum (lunchtime?). We jumped off a tree into the refreshing and clear blue water. We then did the short, albeit steep and challenging, hike up to the cave entrance. The cave is well worth the effort. You can walk all the way to its end, which took us (barefoot) about 20 minutes. It's dark and cool, but you get a headlamp for 10k kips at the entrance. We then made our way back into town, riding on a road with many of the locals, especially many children coming back from school and the ever so abundant free roaming cows.
We then sat down for lunch, at a place where I could FINALLY find vegetarian (tofu) Laap; the typical Lao dish of meat (tofu) with fresh coriander, mint, onions and lime. It is as awesome as it sounds. To end the day on a high note, we got a full body Lao oil massage.
Third day started out with meeting friends we made in the slow boat to Luang Prabang. We hired a kayaking tour for 80k kip (about 8 USD) which took 5 of us 13 km upstream of the river that runs by Vang Vieng. We kayaked down slowly and easily in between jungle covered mountains, water buffaloes taking a swim and naked children playing in the water. The views are uncanny. We also stopped at two of the (party) bars intended for people tubbing down the river. We had lunch and a few beers, danced a bit and chilled out. We got on the kayaks again for about 3 more km, and landed back in the town. Very recommendable experience, and for the mildly active as me, preferred over slowly floating down the river (tubbing)Read more