Clicky

Things to Do in Vang Vieng After the Party | The Trading Travelers
The Trading Travelers
Sharing is Caring!
vang vieng laos

Vang Vieng: After the Party

What was once the number one party spot for backpackers in S.E. Asia, Vang Vieng is now a fairly peaceful town with remnants of what was. And to be honest, we prefer it that way.

Vang Vieng is most famously known for tubing down the river surrounded by limestone cliffs, making stops and taking shots at all of the riverside bars along the way, consuming “happy shakes” and “happy pizzas”, and watching endless episodes of Friends. Its not surprising the government put an end to the party a couple of years ago, with the amount of tourists ending up injured and some even dead. Many people now skip right on over this town because they feel there is nothing left. But for us, it was more inviting than ever and we couldn’t wait to make the trip.

Although Nong Khiaw provided stunning vistas and Kuang Si Waterfalls was amazingly beautiful, Vang Vieng was even more so. We couldn’t get enough of these views…

vang vieng laos

Boat Ride in Vang Vieng

And while you still have the option to tube down the river, you can also choose to kayak or take a long boat instead. Since we only had an hour or two before dark, we opted for the latter and took a sunset cruise. We paid 80,000 kip ($10 USD) for an hour ride, and that was without any haggling. I guess Charlie was tired that day ;-). It was well worth the trip though!

vang vieng laos

vang vieng laos

vang vieng laos

Although many of the bars along the river are abandoned and falling apart, a few still remain:

vang vieng laos

Vang Vieng is also the only place in Laos where you can do a hot air balloon ride. Since we were only there for the night, and it wasn’t exactly in our budget, we didn’t partake but we did get to see one going up on our boat ride.

vang vieng laos

We also saw some para-gliders and that looked amazing! Maybe one day…

vang vieng laos

And, if you are on a budget, you can always hang out at the backpacker bars serving cheap western food and playing episodes of Friends all day long! Brittany could have easily spent a few days doing that…

vang vieng laos

Although it is not as wild as it once was, Vang Vieng is still full of life and has plenty to offer for tourists passing through. If you are planning a trip to Laos, take a couple of days to visit. You won’t regret it!

About the Author Charlie and Brittany

We are Brittany and Charlie - we traded the 9 to 5 and the so-called "American dream" to live our own dream and see the world. We sold all of our belongings and left the US in August 2013. For 5 years, we lived primarily in Thailand and built our online business and location independent lifestyle while we traveled to over 30 countries. We’ve had house sitting gigs on 3 different continents and we’ve even appeared on HGTV’s House Hunters International.

Related Posts

03 Aug, 2017

Visiting Krabi’s Beaches on a (Slightly) Bigger Budget
11 Apr, 2017

Koh Lanta Comeback at the Crown Lanta Resort
17 Jan, 2016

Why We Decided to Leave Bali
14 Jan, 2016

An Eventful End to 2015
Previous Post Luang Prabang: Waterfalls, Bears and Bakeries Next Post Thanksgiving in Thailand
2 comments
Kim says December 2, 2013

LOVE LOVE LOVE all the pics!! Keep them coming!!

2013 Recap and Our Hopes for the New Year | thetradingtravelers.com says January 1, 2014

[…] 12. Taking a boat ride on the Nam Song River surrounded by the magnificent karst landscape in Vang Vieng… […]

Comments are closed