Vang Vieng

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The lagoon, near the Tham Phou Kham cave

Vang Vieng is a town in the People's Democratic Republic of Lao, located in Vientiane Province. The population is around 25,000.

[edit] Town history

One of the main features of the town is a long mostly unused airfield runway parallel to the river. It was used during the Vietnam War by the Air America's planes. The now disused airstrip in Vang Vieng was then called "Lima site 6".

Laos has the dubious honour of being the most bombed country in history. There are still many areas of the country, mainly in the east along Ho Chi Minh Trail and in the north-east that are dangerous to walk through due to many remaining landmines, and it is not uncommon for farmers, their families, and their livestock to tread on an old, yet still active mine. The town started to grow in the 1980s, due to the influx of backpackers. It is often said that in Asia, Lao people don't grow rice, but rather they sit back and "listen" to it grow.

[edit] Vang Vieng today

Vang Vieng today is mainly a backpacker town. The main street is littered with guest houses, bars, restaurants, internet cafes and tour agencies. Almost all the restaurants have large televisions playing American sitcoms (usually Friends), and recent films on a rotational basis. One of the main attraction of the town is inner tubing on the river. Whilst floating downriver there are several places to stop, mostly small family-owned bars or just simply an enterprising local with a bucket filled with ice cold bottles of Beer Lao, and also several good spots for jumping into the river from the bank or a specially-constructed bridge. During the wet season, the river can be a series of raging rapids, but during the dry season, some of it is little more than a trickle.

The market is located five kilometers north of the town selling Lao textiles, household items and several stalls selling dubious foodstuffs. It is possible for stalls to sell bats, squirrels, monkeys, rats, mice, cockroaches and other animals as food. In the town there is a wat that is notable in looking rundown and keeping its valuables chained behind a door. The town is situated on the main north-south highway from Luang Prabang to the capital, Vientiane.

But the real attractions of the area are the scenery, the limestone hills and the numerous caves and caverns. Perhaps the most interesting is the Tham Phu Kham cave, half an hour's spine-compacting ride away from Vang Vieng by tuk-tuk or rented motorbike.

be aware of drugs which are sold in this town !! for example magic mushrooms are sold everywhere in the cafes and bars. the police works with the dealers. you can order a "special mushroom fruitshake" or "mushroom soup" everywhere.