Would you like a magic mushroom shake? Opium pizza? Or a bucket of whiskey? Welcome, then, to the once simple farming town of Vang Vieng, now famous for its drug and alcohol parties.
When you step foot in here, I’m sure one of two things comes to mind: “I’ve been to heaven!” or “What kind of Hell is this!”. The headline of the New Zealand Herald Newspaper is enough to describe the town, “If teenagers ruled the world, the world would be a place like Vang Vieng.” Vieng is 4 hours from the capital Vientiane and 8 hours from Luang Prabang, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.. As the backpacker’s Mecca in South Asia, Bangkok lost its old vibe with the popularization of Khao San Road, travelers discovered this town.. Many of the guest houses in the town are owned by the police.. Again, restaurants that are brave enough to write pizzas with magic mushrooms, opium, marijuana and other drugs on the menu are also run by the friends of these cops.. Imagine a town where everything is free, after paying tribute to the police or if necessary the police.
So, young people from all over the world flock here to enjoy this freedom.. Known as the “Golden Triangle” between Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, the region where all kinds of drugs are grown is located a few hundred kilometers northwest of the town.
When you think of Vang Vieng, you can sit on the tube tube of a truck you know, called “tubing”. your drink in your hand glides on the calmly flowing Song River for hours, and you get an activity to closely watch the local life surrounding the river.. The agency leaves you 10 or 6 km behind the town to the river.
While enjoying the view, you arrive at the town towards sunset by visiting the bars on the riverside, each of which tries to attract you with its different activities.. In the high season, around 500 tubs are rented a day.. You can see the construction of newly built guest houses almost all over the town.
I bought my ticket from the agency for Water Cave Cave, Elephant Cave and kayaking on the 10 km river (100.000KIP, 22TL). Although they are not very flexible in bargaining, I managed to get a discount of 20KIP. Even though it doesn’t seem like a lot of money, it is possible to eat one meal here.
The pickup truck, which collects the customers who joined the tour from the hotel in the morning, arrived at Hmong Village after driving for half an hour on dusty and dirt roads.. We walked through the simple wooden houses where children played barefoot and laughing on the ground.. The view of the limestone mountains surrounding the village was stunning.
After the village, we arrived at Water Cave (Tham Nam).. They gave each of us a head lamp.. Sitting on our tubes, following the rope stretched through the water, we embarked on a mysterious and entertaining journey into the depths of the cave.. The river stretched out like a road inside the cave, curving in some places.. There are no fascinating or dazzling rock formations like the Puerto Princesa Underground River.
You move along the river, which stretches more like a highway tunnel, with the help of a guide rope or by swimming, it’s definitely fun.. In some places you have to walk because of the shallow river. After 45 minutes of fun cave tubing, we had our lunch.
Another remarkable place in Hmong village is called the Elephant Cave, because of the elephant resemblance of a rock in it. we went to the ground. There are Buddha statues and figures inside this small cave with a depth of 10-15 meters.. This cave is considered sacred by the local people.
After visiting the village, we came to the edge of the Nam Song River and settled in our canoes and started our canoe journey in the 10km river current that lasted for 2 hours.. Since we are in the winter season, there is no strong current.. On the river, we watched the surrounding villages, local children and young people collecting seaweed from the river and fishing.. This is also the starting place for tubing.. Young people, who had sprung up in groups on their tubes with their beers in their hands and left themselves to the calm and slow flow of the river, were greeting us.. Many of these young people take turns visiting bars and immersing themselves in music and activities filled with entertainment.
A few tourists die each year during these activities or tubing.. Most of them are caused by drugs or alcohol.. Extremely loud disco music sounds from shabby bars mix together. Some bars are very crowded, while others have no customers.. In some bars, you know, jumping into the river from high platforms.. In some, you can fly like Tarzan and immerse yourself in the water.. It looked fun.
Each canoe is for 2 people and I shared my canoe with a Canadian, providing information about Canada along the way.. He has been using a canoe since he was a child.. Sometimes he joins canoeing and camping activities that last for days in Canada with his friends or family.. In these camps, it was possible to see the surrounding wildlife and bears up close.. He also mentioned that they sacrifice a few people to bears in these camps every year.. Imagine sleeping with a bear a few meters from your tent! Isn’t it beautiful?
After a day of fun, action and adventurous activities, we arrived at the town under a glorious red sky of sunset.. Vang Vieng is not Laos, but it is a place worth indulging in the activities and entertainment of the town for a few days. Discover it!
Day 571: Laos:4, Vang Vieng. February 25, 2012
