The town of Vang Vieng has completely given in to backpackers. Walk through the town and you’ll find dozens of bars playing episodes of Friends and Family Guy on a loop, stores selling fake Ray-Bans and tubing t-shirts, and street vendors with pancakes and burgers.
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I visited the infamous town eager to experience the relic firsthand. Vang Vieng, the place synonymous with narcotic paradise, backpacker raves, and the infamous “tubing” craze. However, to burst mine and your bubble, this town is no longer a crazy party town as the authorities banned all the craze alcohol hut along the river and also all the drugs in the town.
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Vang Vieng won’t let you leave without partaking in at least one day tubing. By tubing, I mean floating down the river in a rubber ring, stopping at bars along the way with the sole purpose of getting totally off-your-face.
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Of course, tubing isn’t the only thing to do in Vang Vieng. The beautiful scenery is amazing
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There is an abundance of caves in Laos, Vang Vieng being no exception, and if you’re an adventurous type, caves like Poukham Cave above the Blue Lagoon are great to explore inside. Take warning if you don’t like spiders as they are home to the goliath spider. You can spot them deep inside the cave if you hold the torch to eye-level, as the spiders have reflective bodies like diamonds.
There are the summits to climb if you want to try rock-climbing.Or you can ride in a hot-air balloon, and get a wholly different perspective – rides go at sunrise and sunset.
~Joie de vivre~ 