After the sublime beauty of Luang Prabang and the quiet charm of Kasi, Vang Vieng was something of a disappointment. It was a dusty, nondescript town flooded with tourists.
The town is bisected by the Nam Song river.
Its allure however was in its surrounding area, which was incredibly beautiful, with plentiful ricefields, lazy lagoons and splendid limestone karsts jutting straight up for hundreds of meters from the surrounding greenery.
From the website of the Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden: “Limestone karst is fascinating in and of itself. These rocks have living origins. They began as accumulating debris of dead marine organisms, the shells of which were made up of calcium carbonate. Over millions of years, the shells of these dead organisms were cemented together into what we call limestone. The subsequent collision of continents lifted these limestone layers above sea level where the elements took their toll. The combination of high temperatures and plenty of rain has since carved them into amazing formations.”
So the key to enjoying Vang Vieng then, seems to be getting away from it. And for two days on a scooter I did just that. As you can see from the pictures and videos below, it’s a wonderful area to explore.
I suddenly came across this alarming sign. After looking quickly at Google Maps, I realized I had missed a turnoff a few hundred meters earlier. Needless to say, I turned around and headed back to the correct route.
I visited a place called Blue Lagoon 1 which was really nice, but was overrun with tourists.
Right behind it you could make the steep climb up to the Tham Poukham Cave, which was large and nice to walk around in.
I also ended up at Blue Lagoon 3. It was farther away and and smaller than Blue Lagoon 1, but there were not nearly as many tourists. It was really nice just relaxing in the waters on an innertube. There were two small caves there, and I joined an Irish couple to explore them, but they were both pretty disappointing; we didn’t even bother to go into either one.
I stayed in a nice, relaxing guesthouse. When I wasn’t on a scooter, the pool beckoned.
