If I could sum up Vientiang in a few words, they would be: caves, rope swings, drugs and alcohol. My experience was limited to the caves and rope swings. The caves and rope swings were plenty enough on their own- and the injuries seem to occur when mixing in the alcohol (or mushrooms). The other odd (but main) attraction was Friend’s and Family Guy cafes. They just played non-stop episodes of the shows and they always had people in them- presumably stoners that just lay there (the seats are designed for lounging) from open to close. (Above photo: a storm brewing on the walk back from the caves)
The caves were incredible. I cannot think of many places in this day and age that will just allow any body to pay about one dollar for an entrance fee, and then just leave you on your own to explore a cave. For safety and my own personal comfort I went with people while exploring the caves- seems a bit risky to do it on your own.
One of the best caves was one you had to swim in. It wasn’t huge, but it went back a couple hundred meters into complete blackness, so we needed headlamps. The water looked like it was pulled out of the Caribbean and the inside was stunning. Large slabs of limestone split the cave in certain areas and in some places the bottom just dropped strait down to darkness- it was a very surreal feeling.
The other cave that is great is called Poukham Cave. Near the entrance and lit up by natural light is a golden reclining Buddha. The caverns in this cave were huge and beautiful, with lots of great formations. We wiggled through a wormhole in this cave only to find the other side declined in a funnel-like way into a black pit. This is scary when you go face first!
Poukham Cave also had a great “lagoon” that again had water that should have been in the Caribbean. There was a big tree that leant over the water and jumping was set up from two of the main branches, there is also a small rope swing that was fun.
One of the other main attractions of Vangvieng is tubing down the Nam Sang River. Along the side of the river are plenty of bars and most of the bars have their own rope swings one has a diving board and one has a giant slide.
The swings seem to get progressively bigger as you go down the river- the climax being the last swing. It was probably about 30 feet high, and could launch you about thirty feet above the river if you let go at the right time. It was a great thrill to do, and fun to watch people as they landed painfully on the water, or tried doing flips and landed on their face.
The tubing and river scene really seemed to make everybody kids again (but instead of getting wild on candy it was alcohol). This last picture is me with the owner of one of the bars, aparently he is saving up money to go to college.
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