When I first got to Vang Vieng…I kind of hated it. Although I loved the surroundings – spectacular limestone cliffs, rivers, caves, and lagoons – the town itself seemed out of place in the natural context. My initial impression was one dirty concrete building after the next, eerily quiet in the day, with an overwhelming number of Western restaurants to cater towards tourists. It was like this weird ghost town that was raided by a dark history of partying backpackers. Vang Vieng is popular among backpackers for the tubing/bar hopping activity. Up until 2012, rave bars lined the floating route. But after a number of tourist deaths the government shut down a lot of the bars to control the party atmosphere. Now there are 3 bars that line the river (which is just enough). It still is a party town but has become a much safer space.
So what caused me to extend my stay from 3 days to 2 weeks? After 2 slow, grey days, the sun came out. Then I moved to a more social hostel, and this changed everything for me. Hanging out with a great group of Swedes, a Finnish girl and an American boy (que Estelle), I got stuck. The 3 day stop turned into a week long stay. And after 1 night away in Vientiane, I came back (hang on, I’ll get to that). It wasn’t until that second week that the negative feelings I associated with town dissipated. The second time in Vang Vieng was even better than before. My time there was a journey of overcoming resistance and hesitation, and developing comfort and confidence.
When I first entered Vang Vieng I had slipped into the laziness of traveling with a friend. My mentality felt a little off, a little anxious. This was perpetuated as I joined a group of friends that I’d previously met on the slowboat to Laos (The Swedes, Finnish, and American). There are great attributes to traveling with a group; suddenly you have people to share your experiences with, elevating a “me” moment into a communal event. We chilled in hammocks and listened to ambient music, played card games constantly, had a Disney movie marathon day (never have I watched Aladdin so intently), went to the blue lagoon and explored caves, and went tubing together. Tubing was particularly memorable. One of our friends had stitches in his hand and his foot from silly accidents, but he was determined to tube. So I played nurse and wrapped his injuries in plastic bags and tape and we made it happen. I laughed so much that day just watching him try to dance and float around with bags covering half of his limbs.
But with group travel comes group decision making. I got sucked in to the hesitation that comes with compromise and by the end of a week it felt toxic. That feeling was clouding my perception of Vang Vieng. It became really difficult to make decisions or commit to anything, and that peaked on my “last” day in Vang Vieng. Our group decided to leave, most of us going in different directions. That morning I committed to the bus but it felt wrong. I felt I still had some unfinished business in Vang Vieng and I didn’t like the bitter taste that came with buying my bus ticket. So many signs were directing me to stay. First thing in the morning someone won a bet on a game of pool and offered me a free night at Nana Backpackers (where I was staying). In that moment I was frozen in indecision, said “maybe,” and ultimately missed the opportunity. Later, our bus was delayed and I contemplated asking to change to a bus leaving the next day. I ignored the feeling. The bus we had arranged from the center of town finally picked us up…and ended up stopping at Nana, not once, but TWICE before we left. Each time I felt like I needed to get out of the minivan. I didn’t listen. 3 people were having birthdays that night and I had FOMO (fear of missing out), bad. As we drove away I kept wishing the bus would have to turn around; my gut was screaming to go back. I spent 6 hours sitting in my regret and resistance, but convinced myself a change is healthy. We got to Vientiane. We squished all 11 people from our minivan and all our bags and suitcases in one of the smallest tuk tuks I’ve ever seen…2 people on either side of the driver and 1 hanging off the back. We sputtered though the capital city for 30 minutes, moving at half the speed limit, but we made it to town. The driver behind us was snapping photos because we looked so ridiculous. That funny moment lifted me some, but I was still a little sour all night. As hard as I tried to pick up my mood, something was wrong.
In the morning I woke up startled. In my sleep I’d realized what I’d been forgetting in Vang Vieng…I’d left my toiletry bag and jewelry in the hostel. No wonder my backpack had felt so much lighter! Worried and frustrated with myself, I was also doubly relieved. Relieved the bag was found, and to have a reason to go back. I could have had the bag mailed, or delivered by the next minivan, but I knew I needed to go back myself. There were people there I still needed to have conversations with, and I was determined to make those introductions and release this notion of hesitation that was clouding my feeling of Vang Vieng. No more reclining from opportunities. This time I jumped with my intuition and booked the bus back.
I am happy I did. As soon as I got back I met the people I had been meaning to talk to. I had intended to return south once I got my stuff, but unsurprisingly I got sucked in again and stayed for another week. It was even better than the previous.
Here are my highlights:
Food
I ate at the same restaurant almost every day, twice a day. It was a block away from my hostel and super cheap (15,000 Kip, about $2 USD for a massive baguette sandwich). By the end of my two weeks they knew me pretty well. I was always rotating between an omelette and bread, chicken sandwich, and some sort of fruit shake. Oh, and coffee of course! I did branch out to a few restaurants and had an enchilada night with spicy margs (can’t compete with home, but pretty solid considering the limited Mexican ingredients in SE Asia), killer pasta from Bamboo passion, drank a draught Guinness (whoa that’s rare out here), and had a Mekong fish and lemon Laos soup (yummm).
Culture
After experiencing the Alms Giving Ceremony in Luang Prabang, the impact of tourism has been very apparent to me. It is easy to see that Vang Vieng has been completely altered by the industry. I couldn’t find any locals to engage with aside from those catering to backpackers and tourists. All authentic Laos culture felt hidden behind a curtain. The only time I saw a significant number of locals was on my second day when Jeanne (French friend) and I walked through an alley and at least 100 locals (mostly men) were playing cards (I assume gambling) at round plastic tables. That was a neat 🙂 I hope that over time the Laos people can reclaim their town and the culture they had there prior to the partying, and the backpackers can still enjoy this haven.
BUT, Laos people do still live in Vang Vieng, just not right next to the majority of hostels (duh). I began to see this more during my second week. I’d been hanging out with some people that work at Nana’s and they invited me to attend a Laos wedding with them. So nice to learn about how they go about celebrating a marriage in Laos. It reminds me a little of Ghana in that the groom has to do a series of actions (i.e. hand over some money in an envelope, drink some whiskey) before he can pass through the “gate” and receive the blessing to marry his love. They also tie the bride and grooms wrists with prayer strings. I didn’t witness any of those traditions because we woke up too late and missed the actual ceremony…which was good because technically we were only invited to the reception but we didn’t know. When we arrived to the wedding location we met up with the bride and groom, who had already changed into their regular clothes, and chilled with them and ate local Laos food and they explained the previously describe traditions.
We did, however, make it to the reception and it was such a beautiful night with gorgeous textiles, flowers, food, drinks, and dancing. They’d invited 2,000 guests! Being important people in Vang Vieng, there was even armed security. As for traditions I did witness…tossing the bouquet is still a thing, but there is no garter tradition here (as you’d expect from a conservative culture). Instead they put the groom on the groomsmen’s shoulders and paraded him down the aisle while he held the bouquet high in the air, friends and family trailing behind carrying photos and flowers. We went back to Nana after and played cards and I felt like in that moment these friends started to mean a lot to me.
Activities
One day I hiked to Pha Ngern Viewpoint with a girl from my dorm. We decided to walk/run the 4.4km there and back (so about 9km total, plus the hike). On the way a little Laos kid, must have been 2 or 3 years old, helped us when we started down the wrong path. He kept speaking in Laos and pointing and it took us a while to communicate but eventually we understood and he saved us a long walk.
We stopped by a beautiful lagoon and Nam Borkeo Phaboua cave on the walk back. As I approached the cave I thought I heard Tibetan throat singing and a singing bowl instrument. I kept hearing it, and then it stopped. When my friend joined me at the cave it didn’t sound again. I felt calm and spiritual at this cave…but on the walk back I could hear the revving of engines in the distance rebounding off the rock. We walked past a buggy rental shop and the main road was about 800m from the cave. My spiritual ego deflated a little (thank goodness). On my way home I stopped to watch kids play a soccer match.
Went tubing three times, twice in the water and the third I drove from bar to bar and hung out/helped out. A lot of the tubers thought I worked there. It was fun to be in that position. Lately, I miss working.
Went to the Jungle Party twice. This is more just a bar right outside of town with a lot of trees and cool decor. They do fire limbo (As much as I love limbo I didn’t participate in that one). The owner of the bar, Sing, is the man who got married.
Went to Blue Lagoon 1 and a cave.
Explored another local cave.
Here are some photos that explain the rest. Overall, it’s the people that make a place significant. So thankful for my time here and for the growing it sparked. Until next time ❤
Bridge Over Distance 
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