Start in Laos in the now idyllic oasis of Vang Vieng

Without really knowing what to expect in Vang Vieng, we arrived there and were immediately impressed by the landscape. The karst cliffs, which have been firmly rooted in the ground for thousands of years, create a strangely beautiful sight as the Nam Song River winds its way through rice fields, palm trees, and banana plants. In the evening, you can also admire hot air balloons floating over the unique landscape.

Vang Vieng was known for anything but its natural beauty for a long time, as the small town was considered the Ballermann of Southeast Asia. At that time, in addition to countless alcohol and drug excesses of the party-hungry backpackers, there were also some tragic deaths during the so-called tubing, i.e. floating down the river on an inflated tire, which was probably not a very good idea under the influence of alcohol and drugs. In a very conservative country like Laos, this was seen with very critical eyes, and the government only intervened after Vang Vieng had completely gotten out of control. In August 2012, it was the president and party chairman himself who put a stop to the whole thing within one day and ordered the closure of all bars overnight. Any bar that did not close within a week landed in prison. From one day to the next, the military arrived and partially demolished the local establishments. In 2012, tourism in Vang Vieng therefore declined by more than 70%.

The highest authority in the country had decided to focus on nature instead of party escapades again, and Vang Vieng should regain fame because of its karst cliffs and magnificent rainforest.

Tubing still exists in Vang Vieng today, but not without helmets and life jackets, and the shelves of the "supermarkets" and "mini-marts" still bear witness to a different past with countless bottles of schnapps. However, today the place is quite a paradise with good infrastructure, many nice bars, and a very relaxed atmosphere. Despite the now quiet and idyllic atmosphere, signs still remind us of the former party hotspot, although today the signs can probably be understood with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

We stayed at the Laos Haven and Spa Hotel, probably one of the best accommodations in town in terms of value for money. From our point of view, the hotel was completely acceptable, affordable, and also boasted a beautiful view and a pool.

In addition, we were able to rent a scooter directly through the hotel for our own exploration tour of the region and neighboring valleys of Vang Vieng. This had the advantage that we did not have to leave our passport as a deposit and could therefore not be confronted with any unnecessary problems. For our scooter tour, we had chosen a neighboring valley where we wanted to visit the Blue Lagoon 1, which is more crowded with Asian tourists, and the much-praised, quieter, and more beautiful Blue Lagoon 3. Instead of booking a tour with one of the countless organizers, we would recommend renting a scooter and exploring the region on your own.

The scooter tour was incredibly beautiful, as we not only had the breathtaking landscape with rivers, rice fields, and unique karst cliffs, but also passed through some small villages, where it felt like there was untouched scenery to admire on every corner. For example, we were able to witness a live cockfight, one of the Laotians' pastimes, as well as some small herds of cows on the road. By the way, the "road" was anything but easy to navigate due to the many extreme potholes and huge puddles of water. In some places, the path was more like a river that we had to cross knee-deep with the scooter due to the rainy season. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun to explore the area on our own with a touch of adventure.

The path is repeatedly crossed by a larger group of beach buggies, as it seems to be great fun for Asian tourists to race through the mud holes and get themselves all dirty, with rain capes of course =D.

Arriving at Blue Lagoon 1, we were quite disappointed as we found a not-so-beautiful natural pool, apart from a lot of Chinese tourists. We immediately made our way up to the cave, which was also included in the entrance fee of 20,000 LAK (approx. €2 per person). After a 20-minute challenging climb, we reached and visited the cave. Then we drove directly back to our scooter and continued to Blue Lagoon 3, stopping countless times on the way to take photos of the beautiful landscape.

Blue Lagoon 3 exceeded all our expectations and was a great stop for a refreshing swim in the water. At the beginning, in the early afternoon, there were only 15-20 other bathers present, while it got slightly busier in the afternoon. Therefore, we recommend going early. After Tobi won over the hearts of the Asians with an unintended somersault, a video was of course filmed as proof, we hurried back to our hotel due to the slowly approaching heavy rain.

Our friends, the Asian tourists, were able to show off with very questionable outfits, as the following picture impressively proves... :-P It is actually not an isolated case, for some reason...

In Vang Vieng, the French influence due to the former colonial rule was also visible, and you can, for example, get sandwiches on every corner in Laos for about €1, which are incredibly delicious and filling. As a good restaurant and cozy bar in town, we can highly recommend the Bamboo Tree. We felt like we were here every evening of our 4-day stay and were never disappointed.

From Vang Vieng, we then headed further north to Luang Prabang, a city that is definitely worth a visit, although we initially had to deal with a crazy transfer...