Vang Vieng, Thrilling fun in nature's Lap
3 hours journey from capital of Lao, Vang Vieng is one of the place in this country which attracts most of the tourist. If you more interested in activities then just relaxing and have the "can do" attitude, Vang Vieng is the right place.
You can take a bus from morning market, Vientiane, which runs at an interval of 2 hours starting from morning 7 till 2 pm, the last bus. It will cost you around 40000Kip. 156 Km away from capital and on the way to Luang Prabhang, it will give you a mouth gaping view right when you will land on the bus stop. A long runway lying unused since years on the left and then a series of mountains will immediately give you a feeling that you are at right place. Once you will get in the city after crossing the runway the restaurants and a number of hotels and guest house with the very affordable price will force you to stay there for more time then you have planned.
Seems like this city have only one slogan, relax and enjoy. City situated on the bank of NamSong river got lot of activities to do like tubing, kayaking, mountain climbing, hot air balloon, trekking etc. A one day package of Kayaking and tubing may cost you around 90.000Kip. Hot air Balloon cost around 70$ per head. There are a number of coffeeshops and fun points open at the both side of river which gives you an opportunity to enjoy the natural thrilling rides and falling from a height in river or grabbing a drink and lying in sun, swing on the freestyle swinger with a board written beside as "Swing at your own risk nearest hospital bangkok" will let you feel more thrilled while enjoying.
A number of different type of natural caves can be seen by yourself or can be visited through package trip which may cost you between 90.000 to 150.000 Kip which includes lunch and kayaking or tubing or both. I loved the water cave which is also the start point of Kayaking during rainy season. Any time is good time to go to Vang Vieng but rainy season is the best time when river is flooding.
The hotels and food is cheaper. A descent hotel can be booked at 40.000 to 80.000 Kip. A river side bungalow can be booked at 100,000 - 200.000 kip for 2 person one room. If you can explore more you can find some more river side bungalows away from the main street which may be cheaper.
Though a old city it have all the basic facilities available. there are number of internet cafes with 300Kip per minute rate, massage centers, hospital and shops for all basic requirements.
City is awake till mid night 12 and all these facilities are available till this time.
There is one international bus stand around 2km away from city center. The buses are available to Vietnam and Cambodia from here.
Coming out of Vang Vieng may be troublesome if you are planning to enjoy your time full day and travel in late evening. The last bus to Vientiane is around 2PM. Mini vans are available at 80.000 Kip. If you want to reserve the van for Vientiane it may cost you around 600,000KIP.
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Thanks Prashant, A lovely article filling us with enough desire to visit the place. A few feedbacks:
ReplyDelete1) It will be great if you can add the approx ruppee conversion for the indian travellers ;-)
2) As a foodie I specially will be more interested in knowing about the food speciality of this place.
Thnx for the Feedback.. point noted and will be taken care.
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