After three nights in Luang Prabang, we took a train ride to get to Vang Vieng, which may lack the UNESCO charm of Luang Prabang, but makes up for it with a bunch of exciting adventure sports. Sorry no pic of the train – which was pretty deluxe. Here’s the station, inside, and looking out…
Nice hotel, with a pool, on the river, sunset views over the majestic mountains, and the armada of boats testified to the fun. I signed up for almost everything the next day: caving in tubes, zip lines, kayaking, a visit to “Blue Lagoon” #1, with lunch included (and less than $25!). I could have also done mud buggy driving, motor boating, motorized hang gliders, mountain climbing, or hot air ballooning. Next time…?
A tuktuk took our random little group of tourists to the cave entrance, and an area that had a lot going on (zip lines, kayaking, etc.)..We were given dry bags, life vests, head lamps, and an inner tube. After the initial shock of the somewhat cold water, we pulled ourselves on a fixed rope into the cave floating a few hundred yards into the mountain. After we reemerged, we drove a ways to another cave, “Elephant Cave” (can you find the pic?), which is another spelunkable Buddhist shrine…
Then we drove to another area, that also had a lot going on, for some zip lining. After slogging up a rather steep dirt road, we started the first of over half a dozen zip lines, a couple of rather sketchy cable bridges, and some guaranteed exhilaration…
After zip lining, we had lunch: fried rice, chicken satay with veggies, and bread. Nice chat with an Aussie named Matt (also nice chats in the tuktuk with other fellow travelers). Then, we hopped on tandem kayaks and headed down the river, which in fact included a few rapids. We landed at a beach with lots of kids playing and a guy washing his scooter. Good times…
Back in the tuktuk, we drove to Blue Lagoon #1, an overcrowded swimming hole complete with a high dive, lots of fish, and many eating & drinking opportunities. Ran into part of our tour group, so they watch my stuff while I took a swim and a jump off the high dive. Interested to know what the other Blue Lagoons around Vang Vieng are like…? This batch included a sleeping kid, a giant crab sculpture, a cool tractormobile, and views of the lovely mountains…
Finally, some video clips: two of my fellow zip liners, the drop at the end, kayaking on the river, and the fish at the Blue Lagoon…
Tomorrow we head to our final destination on this Intrepid tour: Vientiene…