From the Nam Ngum Resort it was only a short and easy ride to Vang Vieng, yesterday. We took a slow morning, went for a nice walk along the lake, and only left shortly before noon. It was a 24km easy ride, and even though we took lunch on the way we arrived early afternoon in Vang Vieng.
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| Getting closer to Vang Vieng, with the impressive limestone cliffs towering in front of us. The road we're on is still road 13, the main road towards north Laos! |
Vang Vieng has a bad reputation. Until a few years ago, it was a party paradise, with lots of booz and apparently drugs. There was insanely crazy tubing, with huge slides from the shore for jumps into the river, and people did all this while being crazy drunk and stoned. In 2011 22 people died here, and that's when authorities were put under pressure to take action. It's no longer the insane party paradise, yet it has become much more touristy than it was back then (we were here in August 2011 and witnessed the decadence then...). There are now tour groups, mostly Chinese and Korean, passing by in Vang Vieng. The result is: more, bigger and mediocre hotels, more touch and go tourist attractions - caves, blue lagoons, and these ATV's... A bit more Disneyland than before, yet without the decadence from before.
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| I know, another sunset picture... This one is taken, literally, from the balcony of our room |
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| So, there's the balcony |
Vang Vieng remains a wonderful place however. It's easy to find a place to stay outside the town away from the busloads of tourists. We stay in a place across the river, called Sivilay Guesthouse; a small, local guesthouse with just a few rooms, a nice garden, and a view over the rice paddies and limestone mountains just behind. It's totally wonderful - just look at the pictures.
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| On our way for a cycling tour in the area |
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| The bicycle was all clean after yesterday afternoon's maintenance, but the dusty road today would change that back to dusty bike |
We already decided before getting to Vang Vieng that we would stay here an extra night, to enjoy this place and explore a bit. Today, during our so called rest day, we did a 43km tour through the countryside, surrounded by the magnificent mountains. Overwhelming beauty and charm, and once we were past the main tourist attractions it was very calm as well. The tour we did (well marked on
hobomaps, a fantastic map resource for Laos) was very nice, almost flat cycling, yet pretty rough in parts: most of the road was dirt track, with big stones rather than gravel. It made for a bumpy ride, to the extent that after getting back I had to re-fasten a number of screws and bolts on the bikes which came loose from all the trembling!
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| People splash water on the road in villages, so less dust gets blown around when cars and motorbikes pass through (not really a problem with our bicycles though) |
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| Lunch break with a view |
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| And a new bridge, so it seems |
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| A happy restaurant owner, and a stealth cow attack on its way in the back |
As it was such a nice day, we have a great place to stay, we're in no hurry, it's a really beautiful place with some nice hikes in the area, we'll stay another day in Vang Vieng and go for a hike tomorrow! After that, the mountains await us...