Vang Vien

Note: Bryce got his camera stolen in Hanoi by a mob of women that appeared out of no where late at night - so all the photos he took since Luang Prabang are now in the hands of the Vietnamese & I've become the sole provider.

Vang Vien is a small remote town midway between Luang Prabang and the capital of Laos, Vientiane. This place has become an easy favorite out of the towns I've visited for this whole S.E. Asian trip. The scenery surrounding it is breath taking - with massive mountains arising straight out of the ground and littering the entire country side, and there is great river that cuts through the town. We got a bungalow complete with hot water and shower right alongside the river for a mere $10. The people in this town are genuinely friendly and very laid back - they don't hassle you like the people of Thailand and Vietnam and they love to laugh. This place is a mecca for those that love the outdoors with tons of deep caves to explore, crystal clear lagoons to swim in, and a river to go tubing down, and everything is easily accessible by bike, which you can rent for $2 a day. Tubing down the river here is very akin to tubing down the Boise River except that here there are bars all along the river and many of them have zip-lines and swings that throw you off into the waters. One of the swings here, the Flying Fox, those you off at about 40ft - its quite the drop and a whole lotta fun. The strangest part of this town though has to be the town itself, which has no nightlife because of Laotian laws regulating how late bars can be open (11 or 12 at night), but from early in the morning till the night it has restaurant/bars that showcase various American television shows and movies. There are three restaurant/bars right next to each other that play Friends all day and night, and even stranger is that these places are packed with Europeans whom love the show - I guess even more than the great outdoors.

But before we got to Vang Vien I ran into a pet of one of gas station owners on the road between Luang Prabang and Vang Vien - poor little fellow is locked up all day on a propane tank, but it doesn't stop him from running circles around the tank 24/7.


Here's a scenic photo taken from the bus as we head towards paradise



And here are a large group of photos taken right outside our bungalow - the sunsets here are always different, but also always amazing









Here's a silhouette of the taxis they use in Vang Vien - they are very bizarre looking machines with the motor resting up with the front wheel and the turning controlled with a handle similar to a push lawn mower.



Me hanging out in the river, which the best way to cool off in this extremely hot town.





Road construction was going on throughout the whole town of Vang Vien - probably very similar to road construction in the US 50 years ago.




We rented bikes that were quite nice -especially in comparison to those we used in Ayutthaya. There are a huge amount of caves a few km outside of town and we road our bikes to a great number of them.


The Blue Lagoon outside of Phoukam Cave & some shots of us jumping off the tree into the refreshing crystal clear waters.







Phoukam Cave - the largest cave in Vang Vien complete with a laying Buddha. It's very difficult to get clear photos in the caves because a lack of light, and the flashes on our cameras are not very powerful, but here are some of the better pics.




Its also impossible to truly capture the size of the cave as well as the beauty of the formations beheld within.





This is a spider we saw in numerous caves in the area - you can't tell by the photo, but it has massive luminous eyes obviously playing a role in allowing it to see in the pitch black caves.





Bryce ran low on funds & had to pick up a local job at the sewage treatment center.

Just joking - one of the caves we crawled into was very deep and narrow and also had pool of disgustingly murky water at the end of it. We were already soaked in so much sweat due to the heat and amount of energy we expended in getting to the end of the cave that we said the hell with it and jumped in. Our guide, a rickety old man, told us to hold our breath and go under a portion of the cave - we kindly refused to stick our heads under the water. After our mud bath - he wiped us off with a filthy towel ridden with holes - I guess we truly couldn't get any dirtier.

The bridge to Chang Cave, a very popular cave with the locals, because it is outfitted with various lights, man made stairs and sits in the center of a nice park.



Area surrounding Chang Cave



Inside the cave - you can see the unnatural lighting

There is a hole in the cave from which you get a pretty good view of Vang Vien




We sadly were robbed of the photos of us tubing down the river and were only left with a few of the swing photos.



Me after flying off the swing. The dog in the photo acted like a taxi driver for a day - he would go in after everyone that swung into the water and let you grab his tail while he hauled you in - I have know idea where he learned that trick.