Vang Vieng is a small town known for its partying, happy hour and tubing. The tubing that takes place in this area of Laos consists of letting you float with a giant tube down the river. To which many accompany him, with a cocktail or beer in hand. Personally, I don't like party destinations. And I usually avoid them, but we finally decided to stay 2 nights in Vang Vieng and we were not wrong. Since 2012, the government increased laws on drunken tourism and the area, which had been affected by several tourist deaths, was much more controlled. Nowadays, you can do all kinds of activities in nature, not all of them related to alcohol, hiking, kayaking, paddle surfing... plus, the environment is beautiful. You can stay in small bungalows near the river and enjoy beautiful sunsets.
In this post I explain 12 essential things to see and do in Vang Vieng and I add some tips to organize your trip to Laos.
Vang Vieng is characterized by being located in an incredible natural environment. Surrounded by lush forests, mountains, caves... and most of the activities to do here are related to the outdoors, resting and enjoying the surroundings.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN VANG VIENG, LAOS
1. Visit caves, an essential thing to see and do in Vang Vieng
All the mountains surrounding Vang Vieng are made of limestone and are pitted creating incredible caves. There are many caves in the area that have been adapted for exploration, all of them have stalactites and stalagmites, some even have lakes inside for bathing... The most popular and beautiful caves to see in Vang Vieng are the Tham Hoy (Snail Cave) , Tham Jang (Tham Chang), Tham Nam (Water Cave) or The Elephant cave. Although there are many more. Generally, they all charge around 5,000 kips for entry and another 5,000 kips if you want to park your motorcycle.
2. Enjoy the natural pools of Vang Vieng
In Vang Vieng there are different natural pools where you can enjoy bathing. The most popular are the Blue Lagoon, which covers a space with a total of 5 lagoons. A lagoon with turquoise water located between mountains. You can do different water activities, they have slides, zip lines and donut floats. All these lagoons are distances from each other, to be able to enjoy them all, you must have transportation. The entrance to each lagoon costs between 10,000 and 15,000 kips, plus the cost to park the motorcycle/bicycle, which is another 5,000 kips.
My favorite is lagoon 5. It is the furthest of all and therefore, it is usually emptier. It is surrounded by limestone mountains covered with vegetation, you can swim, jump from a rock, play with the donut floats, sunbathe on the grass...
3. Climb a viewpoint, something essential to see and do in Vang Vieng
There are many mountains surrounding Vang Vieng that have viewpoints at the top. The landscapes from above are incredible and without a doubt, it is an essential thing to do in Vang Vieng. Some of the most popular viewpoints with an easy route are Pha Poak, Nam Xai, the famous viewpoint that has a motorcycle at the top, or Pha Ngeun. More or less to go up to all the viewpoints you have to climb for about 30-40 minutes. The entrance fee for the viewpoints is between 10,000 and 15,000 kips.
4. Tubing in Vang Vieng
One of the star activities in Vang Vieng is tubing. You can rent a donut float for approximately 50,000 kips to let you slide down the Nam Song River. The river has calm waters, don't imagine that they are rapids. Along the river there are bars where you can have a drink. It is usually an activity where everyone takes the opportunity to drink as if there were no tomorrow. Please be careful and keep in mind that the nearest hospital is 3 hours away. There are usually quite a few accidents due to the drunkenness that many tourists get into this activity.
5. Visit Kaeng Nyui Waterfall
The Kaeng Nyue waterfall is located very close to the city, about 6 kilometers, and is a beautiful waterfall, with a 30-meter drop surrounded by vegetation. The entrance costs about 15,000 kips + 5,000 kips for the parking if you bring your own motorcycle. Once you park and go through the ticket office, the journey is simple.
6. Take a Buggy tour in Vang Vieng
Another activity you can do in Vang Vieng is to get to know the surroundings of the city and its forests by driving a buggy. There are many routes and you can rent it independently like we did, and go investigate on your own, or book a guided route.
7. Get a massage in Vang Vieng
The area is very quiet and all its activities are leisure or visiting natural places. Therefore, you will have plenty of time to enjoy your hotel. If you fancy a relaxing afternoon, there are many places where you can get massages for very little money. Many accommodations already offer this service, as was our case, but if they do not offer it, you just have to go out into the street and you will find many massage places and stalls.
8. Activities on Nam Song River
There are several activities you can do on the river. Kayak routes are the most frequent. But there are even zip lines, canoe rides... In general, all the activities are quite economical, since half a day kayaking, zip lines, visiting caves, etc. costs less than 20 euros.
9. Temples to see in Vang Vieng
Although the city of Vang Vieng does not have many cultural places to see, it does have quite a few temples. Some of the most essential ones to visit are:
Wat That: it is the largest temple in Vang Vieng and is made up of different buildings, the largest of all is the prayer temple. In this room, there is a large collection of Buddhas of different sizes. Admission is free.
Wat Kang: This small temple painted almost entirely in red is located in the center of the town. In it, there is a drum tower used to mark the center of the city. Admission is free.
10. Balloon flights in Vang Vieng
Before dawn and during the morning, they fly hot air balloons. It is another of the activities you can do in Vang Vieng to enjoy spectacular views. The cost per person is around 70 euros for a 45-minute flight. If we compare it with other neighboring countries, where the cost is 3 times more, the activity turns out quite well. We loved it, the experience is unique.
11. Vang Vieng Night Market
From 5pm each evening, the night market starts operating until midnight. It is the perfect opportunity to buy a souvenir, some clothes and eat at a very low price. There is a lot of atmosphere, many bars in the area have a happy menu and happy hour. The food stalls offer grilled meat, skewers, fruit, smoothies...
12. Walk among rice fields
Vang Vieng is surrounded by crops, the vast majority of them rice. If you want to take cool photos, one option is to come to the Vieng Tara Villa Hotel, which has elevated wooden walkways above the rice fields.
You can also explore the area and you will find among the crops many native cows and saola, a species of goat very common in this area of Laos.
POSTS FROM VANG VIENG THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
PLAN YOUR TRIP STEP BY STEP
I hope you enjoy your trip to Laos and that this article has been useful to you. You can continue reading many more related articles on the blog.
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A hug and see you soon!