Foreigners behaving badly in Vang Vieng...

Talor: Wasn't really looking forward to Vang Vieng, a backpacker haven, known as a party town. But, we were heading north, and it was on the way to Luang Prabang, so we decided to stop for a day or two to try the most popular activity, tubing down the Mekong. A 3 ½ hour bus ride later, we arrived, and the scenery was beautiful with karsts (limestone hills) jutting out from the countryside.

The town itself is nothing to write home about with main street lined with guesthouses and restaurants catering to backpackers. Most of the guesthouses had basic non-descript rooms with absolutely no personality to distinguish one from another. And most of the restaurants had exactly the same “western” menu similar to what we had seen in other small towns in Laos. Not only that, the restaurants had these raised platforms with cushions and pillows where backpackers would get stoned, lay there and watch endless re-runs of “Friends” (the American sit-com). I couldn't believe it... it was exactly as they described it in the guidebook! We both thought, “UGH!, Let's get the hell outta here!” Unfortunately, we had to wait until the next day.

Spent the night in a tiny room at the Villa Lane Zeng, woke up in the morning, and noticed that it was much cooler than Vientiane. We thought “hmmm... this is not so bad...” So we switched to a much larger room at the Nana Guesthouse, away from the main drag, and decided to stay a couple days to try some of the activities on offer: caving, kayaking tubing, etc. Near the guesthouse, we found great street food and a nice little noodle shop where men gather to play petanque.

We thought tubing would be a good way to cool off so after lunch, headed to the central tubing place where we rented a tube, and took a tuk-tuk to the starting point, about 3km away. What a scene! There are bars all along the river where tubers can float/paddle to to stop and have a drink. Well, there was a party in full swing going on at the first bar where kids were just hanging out getting drunk and stoned at 2:00 in the afternoon. Twenty, or even ten years ago, I probably would have joined in, but it just didn't appeal to me. So we got in the water and started paddling downriver. As we went further downstream, there were less bars and it was much more tranquil. And I found myself relaxing and wholly enjoying the experience... floating in a cool river at the hottest time of the day, lazily paddling while taking in the gorgeous scenery. Took us three hours to finish, and we capped it off with drinks while watching the sunset.

The next day we took an all-day caving, trekking and kayaking tour with Green Discovery, an outfit known for responsible eco-tourism. We had a fun day checking out several caves outside of town, had lunch, then trekked (more like walked) on dirt roads through a minority village before kayaking on the same part of the Mekong we had tubed the day before. The group was pretty cool, a young American couple and an older Canadian couple, and it was nice chatting with them. Yong, our Guide, spoke pretty good English and had a great bubbly personality. He would crack jokes and laugh really loud which would make us laugh too. We stopped a couple of times while kayaking... first, to have a drink at a bar that was actually in the water, and second, so that Erik could swing off a tall platform and splash into the water. It was a fun, active day and we were exhausted at the end of it.

Though we had a nicer time than I thought I would, there wasn't much else to keep us there so on to Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage City and the crown jewel of Laos.

Erik: The activities were really fun. We explored gigantic caves full of stalactites and stalagmites. Another cave we actually had to tube through on an underground river with headlamps for light. Pulling our kayaks up to a bar table in the middle of the river was an excellent break. Sipping a big Beer Laos with your feet actually on the rocky river bottom is a wonderful experience.

The real downside of Vang Vieng, though, were the young backpackers behaving badly. It's quite sad to see them laying like zombies watching the TV all day. I'd rather shoot myself than watch “Friends” re-runs all day long. Drugs are illegal in Laos, but I guess that's just ignored, and you can order “happy” shakes at these TV bars - made with marijuana, magic mushrooms or opium. All over town there were informational posters telling foreigners how to behave so as not to offend the locals; don't do drugs in public, don't point bare feet towards people when sitting, don't wear bathing suits, etc. These posters were everywhere. The tubing shop had 3 huge signs painted saying please don't walk through town in bathing suits – but few of the tourists paid any heed at all, and pretty much did everything they warned you not to do. Perhaps I'm becoming a prude as I get older, but I found the disregard for local customs offensive to me as well. After just a couple of days we were ready to move on to Luang Prabang.

Tubing and other photos...

Vang Vieng, Laos