We got to Vang Vieng mid day on Sunday. We were going to be there 3 full days. We were heading to Luang Prabang Thursday by bus. We arrived at a bus station and had to take a tuk tuk to our Bungalow. We asked 3 different tuk tuk’s their price before we settled on one- never take the first tuk tuk you see! Always price shop because you will definitely find one much cheaper.
We stayed at Champalao Bungalows which really was an absolute dream but be careful because no one knew where this place was. Our tuk tuk dropped us off at the wrong place and we had to walk the rest of the way and a tour we booked couldn’t find us at all and were over an hour late picking us up! Besides no one knowing where it was, this place was heaven on earth and I can’t recommend it enough.
The only way to book is through FaceBook. I was a little anxious about it because when I searched the place, online sites said the bungalow was completely booked but when I messaged them directly they said they had a bungalow for us. Our exchanges over the next few months were days apart. I messaged them a few times to confirm and I had to request for them email me a confirmation but the email confirmation was wrong. Sometimes they didn’t answer at all. I was totally unsure if this hotel was going to work out. Thankfully it did and much to my pleasant surprise, checking in went very smoothly.
Right when we walked up it was beautiful already and they had some adorable pet bunnies.
The man at the front desk walked us to our bungalow. The walk to our bungalow was outrageously beautiful.
The bungalow itself was simple but nice. The bathroom made me a little nervous but the water ended up being very hot which was nice!
I mean, look at this view! This was our view every day for 3 and a half days and I just couldn’t get enough of it. I couldn’t take enough pictures. I couldn’t stare at it enough. I loved staying here so much!
We were just a short walk to town. Only a few blocks. Vang Vieng is under a whole lot of construction. The town is trying their best to keep up with the tourists.
Just when I thought the view couldn’t get anymore beautiful it started to get dark! Sunset was just pure magic.
We got in early enough on Sunday to walk around and explore town a bit. Like I said, it was under a lot of construction and it’s pretty run down but so charming, especially with the mountains peeking through old buildings.
We also price compared different shops and different tours. We set up our bus to Luang Prabang as well as our tour for the next day.
We walked around town and got some crepes for dinner. We went out in search of the night market which ended up being amazing! I love night markets! One of the best parts of Asia!
On our first day in Vang Vieng we booked a full day tour for Cave tubing, kayaking, and to see the Blue Lagoon. It sounded like a packed and exhausting day but we only had 3 full days here so we felt we had no choice but to get through the full tour to see the most we could!
The tour was exhausting but really incredible! I was a bit nervous at first because we had to rush to eat breakfast before the tour picked us up.
We both ordered baguettes with eggs from our hotel’s cafe. We were shocked to discover ants cooked inside one of the baguettes! Luckily we had two more to share.
We ended up waiting an hour for the tour. Our host was so nice, he called the company a few times for us and told us they were coming. I still had my doubts. They finally arrived! They had 6 other people to pick up so we were squished like sardines in the back of the truck. It was about an hour drive to our first stop- cave tubing.
First we explored a few caves by foot. They were very cool and had amazing statues in them. One was called The Elephant Cave where they say Buddha touched his left hand down.
Next we took a long and hot walk through a beautiful rice field to the cave we would be tubing in. We were greeted by friendly and playful puppies! I hope they were owned by someone!
Next we got our headlamps and were ready for the cave.
Cave tubing was exhausting. It was actually more strenuous than I thought it would be. There was a rope that you had to pull yourself and your tube with and a lot of the time we were actually going against the current. We were in the dark cave for a long time. We pulled ourselves to the end of the cave and had to pull ourselves back. We were in there for over an hour.
I was honestly a little afraid. I was nervous to put my feet and butt in the water. I was trying as hard as I could to keep my body parts above water. It was pitch black without our headlamps. Luckily the cave was very crowded!
There was a part we walked through, on rocks through a fast and powerful current with our bare feet. It hurt so badly! My feet were in bad shape.
When we got out of the cave I was so exhausted that I was nauseous and shaking and had a major headache. I think I was low on sugar. I think also from being in a dark cave for so long it hurt my head to come out into the bright sun.
They were nice enough to provide us lunch but I struggled to eat it. I chugged water and ate a sugar filled granola bar. I started to feel better and was able to eat the rice meal they provided us.
The cave part of the tour was very difficult but it was a cool experience! I would definitely recommend it to others and would go again myself!
We walked back to the bus, the same hot, long path. I was so beat!
On our walk back I saw something I can never unsee. A poor lizard was tied up. He was being sold as food. I couldn’t stop staring into his eyes. He looked so helpless and scared. I wish everyone was a vegetarian. These poor creatures. I know this is their way of life but I am an animal lover through and through and hate seeing animals tortured this way. It is by far the most difficult part of traveling for me.
After we ate we headed to the next part of the tour- kayaking! Our drive to kayaking was long but beautiful.
There was no bathroom or anything when we got to the kayak spot so I had to pop a squat near some cows.
I loved the kayak part of the tour. It was so peaceful and we had incredible views! Kayaking was easy because we were going with the current. There were times we were able to completely stop kayaking and would still float along.
We stopped midway at a bar. Apparently there used to be many bars along the side of the river that people would stop at but Vang Vieng had to do away with this because so many tourists would get drunk and drown. There were still a few bars. We stopped at one and half of our tour group went to zip-line. Mark and I weren’t feeling is so we relaxed by the river for an hour or so. The bar was playing popular US songs with Asian singers so we had entertainment as well. Something else that was entertaining was that these boys that worked for the bar would throw bottles attached to rope out to the tubers that wanted to get off but the tubers would always miss and fall into the water. So hilarious.
The other half of the tour came back from Zipling and said it was very scary and they didn’t feel safe so I was relieved we decided to skip it! We hung out a few minutes more and got back on our kayaks.
Once we finished up kayaking we headed to the last part of the tour- Blue Lagoon. There are about 5 or 6, maybe more blue lagoons in the blue lagoon park. Sadly we went to the ugly one! One of them is so beautiful but we didn’t get to see it. Mark and I didn’t want to go in the water. It looked gross and was overcrowded. We hung out on a bench and watched a pack of stray dogs play together.
We were so exhausted by the tour that we went out to get a crepe for dinner and went straight back to the room. I was passed out by 8pm.
The next morning we were both so dead. We were exhausted and incredibly sore but also very hungry. We walked a few buildings up to get breakfast. I ordered a french toast baguette and Mark got eggs. We ate our delicious meals and then went right back to bed until lunch time.
We ate lunch at this cute place that ended up kind of being an ordeal.
They didn’t speak English at all but we had been doing okay because we had our handy translation books. I ordered a vegetarian meal but they brought me out noodles with minced beef. I had to pick out all the tiny pieces of beef. Our meals were just okay and everyone was smoking inside which I am allergic to so I was having a difficult time. We ate quick and tried to get out quickly but had a bit more of an ordeal. .
Mark asked for the check but the waitress brought us out some drinks. He tried correcting her. Her eyes all of a sudden became huge and she ran to the kitchen. She accidentally put in more food orders for us. I don’t know how she got that from Mark asking for the check but she did. We finally straightened it all out and were on our way!
It was so hot this day that we had a difficult time being outside. We walked back to our bungalow and Mark had his laundry done. I lied in bed naked under the fan. We stayed in the bungalow for hours until the sun went down a bit.
I really wanted to have dinner on the water so Mark found this beautiful riverside restaurant for us to eat at. It was just a short 5 min walk from our bungalow.
We got there just in time to watch the sunset behind the mountains. It was so beautiful and not only was it beautiful but our food was delicious!
After our wonderful dinner we decided to get dessert at Luang Prabang Bakery. We had seen it earlier in the day and it looked so cute. I honestly didn’t love the dessert but it was a nice place to hangout and relax after dinner.
The next day, Wednesday, our last full day in Vang Vieng, we decided to walk to a large bridge and cave called Tham Chang Cave. It wasn’t a long walk but felt that way because it was so hot out. Luckily I had my amazing mist fan that came in handy the whole trip! I used it almost every day of our month long trip.
To get to the cave we needed to walk over this long, orange bridge. It was beautiful with the mountains in the background.
The cave was so cool…literally! It was cold inside! It came as such a relief from all of our hot days that I was barely able to tolerate.
The walk up and down the stairs to the cave were pretty scary! It was so tall and the stairs were knee high steps. I was gripping on to the side for dear life!
It was very cool exploring the caves. There was so much to see and it was an easy walk around. We went very early in the morning which was nice because there were only a few other people there. On our way out a ton of people were walking up the stairs to enter the cave. We left just in time!
The views from the cave were beautiful.
On our walk back we saw a group of adorable little girls. They waved to us and said “Candy? Money?” It made me giggle.
We went to eat lunch at Happy Mango for the second time but they never seem to be open. They do not follow the hours they have posted. Mark and I decided to go back to the bungalow to shower and to try again later. We were sticky and gross anyway.
My pineapple fried rice was well worth the wait because it was delicious! Probably my best meal here in Vang Vieng. I highly recommend this place though it’s always closed so it’s annoying!
When we got back from lunch it started storming pretty bad! There was a big lightening storm and all the power went out for hours.
Thankfully a few hours later the storm passed. We went to get hot pot and then spent our final night at my favorite place- the night market!
Mark thought he ordered beef but a large plate came out with what looked like a bunch of baby tongues. Mark ate it and said it was good. Luckily he’s adventurous.
The next morning we walked down the road to get breakfast before our bus to Luang Prabang. I loved seeing the women selling food in the morning.
For breakfast we went to this little hole in the wall place, Victor Place that was so delicious. We had rice soup and a Lao pancake topped with coconut flakes for breakfast.
There was this funny little girl in there. She could not look away from her phone. Her mom and dad were calling her for a long time and she didn’t even acknowledge that they spoke. She stared at the phone the entire walk to the motorbike, while she was in the process of sitting on it, and as it rode away. She did not take her eyes off that phone for one single second. I guess kids are the same even across the world!
The hardest part of traveling for me are all the stray animals. We saw so many cats and dogs that I wanted to take home. They were all so friendly and sweet. I saw a nursing mama dog (3rd pic, her pups are 4th pic) almost get hit by a car. She was running all over begging for food. She was so skinny. I bought her a big piece of chicken. She was so happy. I looked up shelters to bring the animals to but there weren’t any! I wish I could have rescued them all. There are just so many that need help.
A tuk tuk came and picked us up from our bungalow and brought us to the bus station. I was so sad to leave. I really loved Vang Vieng. I became even more saddened when I saw our bus for the 5 hour drive. It was not luxurious like the last bus. It was a mini van packed full of more than 10 people. Mark and I were the first to be picked up by the tuk tuk so somehow this pushed us all the way to the back…which meant we were last to get in the mini van. We were left with the worst seats. The front next to the driver. I had to sit in the non seat in the middle of Mark and the driver. I could barely move a muscle. It was a longggggggg 5 hours!
The driver drove up a tall mountain with no sides to the bottomless edge. I was terrified and having a mini heart attack. Strangely, at the top of the mountain was a market area and beautiful overlook. We got out for about a half an hour to explore and stretch our legs.
It was a long 5 hours but a very cheap 5 hours! Check out my video of our 3.5 Days in Vang Vieng.
And if you haven’t already, check out my blog about our 3 days in Vientiane, Laos