I was warned against Vang Vieng, Laos- I was warned so many times and with the same negative message, that I was mere centimeters away from just skipping it altogether.
The story is that the town has been taken over by tourism, and that on every street, cafes and restaurants full of drunken and drugged-out young tourists can be found, laying in recliner seats, watching episodes of Friends and Family Guy. Nothing else- just these two shows, for some reason. I heard that the locals are not so friendly, most likely due to the fact that the tourists are so terrible as a general rule. The other thing that you hear about is tubing down the Mekong River, which, is the main reason people flood to Vang Vieng. The catch here, too, is that everyone doing this is drinking and stopping at the bars along the river that are feeding these tourists buckets of alcohol, as well as food that prefaced on the menu has the words 'Happy' or 'Ecstatic' in the listing, which indicates some sort(s) of hallucinogenic drugs.
Everything about what I was told is absolutely the truth. But, as I did my research, I also learned that Vang Vieng is beautiful, full of caves, bicycle riding, waterfalls, and great natural beauty. I also learned of an Organic Mulberry Farm where volunteers can come and milk goats and drink mulberry shakes, and I also identified a guesthouse in my Lonely Planet guide called the Maylyn Guesthouse, which is 'away from it all', and quiet. When I was still in Luang Namtha with the Kiwis, I was planning on heading further north when I left the small town. But the day before leaving, a sudden intuition came to me that I should instead head south, and get on the same plane as these guys the next day back to Vientiane, and take the four hour bus ride slightly north to Vang Vieng. So, I followed this intuition, shared a fun flight with the guys, and we parted ways at the airport in Vientiane (though I bumped into them later that evening in Vientiane while they were waiting for their bus! It was quite the coincidence!)
I stayed the night in Vientiane and took the bus the next morning. After a short 3-4 hour bus ride, I had arrived in Vang Vieng. I joined a tuk-tuk full of potential young partiers; they all got off at one guesthouse, and then I had to negotiate with the driver to take me to my 'far-away' guesthouse on the other side of the river. It was only 1-2km away from the center of this touristy centre of town, but there is a fee to pay every time you cross the bridge. So, I paid 20,000kip ($2.50US) to the driver to take me as far as the bridge, and I walked with my large backpack to the other side.
There were two bridges to cross, and as a pedestrian I had to pay 4,000kip to go across and come back. As soon as I got to the bridge, I knew I was already on my way to my home in this town. I had left the blaring town of television, house music, and young travelers walking around mostly-exposed in bikinis and bare-chests and drinking, and was now crossing to the other side, where there were villages of locals, real homes and stores, as well as my guesthouse.
It was a 10-minute walk to my guesthouse, and I was quite happy to arrive. One of the ladies that worked there showed me to a bungalow at the furthest end of the property, which was hidden far back amongst trees, flowery bushes, and gardens. We walked along the stone footpath to the sweetest bungalow with a porch, which overlooked farmland, gardens full of flowers and butterflies, as well as a creek that flowed just below the bungalow. I asked her how much, and she said 60,000kip. That is less than $8US! I could not believe it! I said yes right away with joy bursting out of me, and I felt so lucky and happy to have found this peaceful place- I could not hear a sound or see a sight of any of the tourist madness that was going on just 1km away; all I could hear was the flowing of the water, birds, and insects. So beautiful.
I wandered in the gardens across a little bridge from my bungalow, snapping photos of butterflies, and exploring the terrain. I asked 'Hat', one of the guys working there if it was okay to swim in the creek, and he smiled and told me yes. I went in fully clothed in my dress, and swam for the next half hour in this wonderfully cold and refreshing stream, with Hat smiling down at my obvious enjoyment of the water, knowing that I had found my refuge for however long I decided to stay in Vang Vieng!
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