Vang Vieng, Laos’ party and adrenaline capital
Located between Vientiane and Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng is a modern, loud party town located just across a small river from a gorgeous valley with stunning karst scenery and 6 swimming lagoons. It has a great selection of hostels, hotels and restaurants for every price range.
20 years ago, Vang Vieng was known as a wild and crazy place where absolutely anything goes. Amongst other things, when tourists were inner tubing down the river, riverside bar owners would hook your tube as you approached, and haul you in to get you drunk or stoned. After too many deaths, and under increasing pressure from foreign embassies, the government cracked down on a lot of unsafe practices in 2012. Vang Vieng remained a party town, but a calmer and safer one. But then recently, tragedy struck.
In November of 2024, several backpackers staying at a hostel in Vang Vieng died and more were hospitalised after being given free shots of local hard liquor that were laced with methanol. Lao Lao rice wine whisky is a frequent element of local hospitality, and many of us have drunk it when offered (although I have only done so in villages, never in big rave parties). This tragedy is a reminder to all of us to be careful at all times. A bottle of Beer Lao (Laos’ remarkably tasty and inexpensive national brew) is probably the safest alcohol you can drink. And I personally think cocktails are safe if you see them being made using branded, bottled ingredients and then handed directly to you, and you pay for it. Ice cubes are generally fine at tourist bars in the cities, but I try to avoid them in the villages where they might be made with tap water. But if someone is passing out big quantities of free local alcohol, say no! Laos is a very poor country, and anyone giving out massive quantities of anything for free may be skimping on quality.
With that said, here’s how to have a good, fun, safe time in Vang Vieng:
If your time in Laos is really short, then besides Luang Prabang, the other place you should go is either here, or Nong Khiaw up north. Either one will give you Laos’ wonderful karst mountain scenery:
Vang Vieng is the better choice if (a) you are in a big rush, (b) you like loud party towns, (c) you are more interested in inner tubing, paragliding or hot air ballooning than trekking, and/or (d) you are heading to or coming from the South (Thakhek, Pakse, the 4,000 Islands and/or Cambodia).
Nong Khiaw is the better choice if (a) you have more time, (b) you prefer idyllic riverside villages to loud party towns, (c) you realy want to trek, and/or (d) you are heading to or coming from the North (northern Laos, northern Thailand or northern Vietnam).
One place you can stay in Vang Vieng that won’t feel like you’re in a loud party town at all, is Ban Lao Bungalows on Saysong Island in the river north of the town centre.
In Vang Vieng, inner tubing down the river (starting outside of town and finishing in the city centre) is no longer the dangerous, wild experience that first made Vang Vieng famous -- bar owners are no longer allowed to hook your inner tube, pull you to shore and get you stoned and drunk. It’s a fun, inexpensive and relaxing half-day if you go with a good group. If you don’t have a fun group, it should be easy to find one.
Vang Vieng’s scenery is mainly in the West Vang Vieng Loop, the valley that runs several miles west out from town. It contains:
Six different Blue Lagoons (naturally spring-fed, man-made swimming holes with ziplines and Tarzan-style swings. Lagoon #1 is too crowded; I really liked #3 and Blue Lagoon #4 (pictured here)
Several hiking trails, many leading to sunset overlooks. I hiked up to both the Nam Xay (with the motorcycle, pictured here) and Silver Cliff overlooks and I really liked both. And I hear that there are additional good ones that I didn’t try, in particular Phapoungkham (with the airplane, also called Pha Hor Kham) and Pha Ngern.
If you’re very fit and it’s not too hot, you can do the loop by bicycle, but that can be difficult as your wheels sink into the soft sandy roads in the valley. With an early start, a one-day motorbike rental will easily allow you to do the whole West Vang Vieng Loop, including a swim in one blue lagoon and a sunset hike to one of the overlooks.
Alternatively, dozens of tuk-tuks are always waiting all over Vang Vieng to take you out of town. The standard itinerary includes a few hours at one of the blue lagoons and then a stop to hike one of the mountain overlooks at sunset. In January 2023, the going rate for this was around 400,000 kip / $23. The tuk-tuks hold up to 10 people, so the bigger your group, the cheaper the cost per person.
You can also go hot air ballooning for US$100 per person, at dawn or dusk – dawn is generally less hazy. Personally, I didn’t find ballooning nearly as interesting in Vang Vieng as I had in in Egypt, Myanmar or Cappadocia in Turkey. If this is your only chance in your life to go in a balloon, then maybe do it. If you’ve done it elsewhere, I’d skip it.
Drugs in Vang Vieng: Narcotics are tolerated in three bars in town. Ask for the Happy Menu and you’ll be given a hand-written menu with almost every narcotic known to man. These bars are crawling with undercover cops, watching your every move. Usually you can buy and use whatever you like in the bar, but if you leave with anything at all, you’ll be immediately arrested and pay a $250 fine – more if you argue. No, your embassy won’t help you.
