Laos: Vang Vieng: Spring Festival 2020

I left LP after having fallen in love with the sleepy little town, but keen to keep exploring the country. The bus journey from LP to Vang Vieng was described by many on the internet as a truly horrific journey. Long, uncomfortable and very bad for anyone who gets motion sick (like me) so I was dreading it. It's 4 hours but goes over the mountains. What I hadn't realized was that there was recently a new road that had opened that was supposed to be much better to travel. I was prepared! I had travel sickness tablets, some herbal sticker thing that goes behind your ear and an empty stomach. On top of this, my hotel lady called the bus people and got them to pick me up first so that i could sit in the front. A fantastic decision! It did mean that I was sitting in the van as we drove about town collecting people but my bag was first in the van and I was comfortable. I felt very sorry for the people getting picked up at the end as they were crammed into small spaces that were being over run by backpacks and for some reason, boxes of fruit.

The view from my hotel room.

The journey was nowhere near as bad as i was expecting. It wasn't fun by any means but it was OK. most of the road had been completed but there were odd spots of interesting hair raising corners.

I arrived into VV for about lunch time and walked to my hotel. This was my splurge place. I decided to get the nicer hotel with the pool and I am very glad that I did. It was lovely and very pleasant after the long journey. I was upgraded to one of the 'mountain view' rooms which was on the top floor and much posher than my previous place.

Vang Vieng had a reputation a few years back for being a party and drug place. After a serious of nasty accidents and I suspect a few tourist deaths, the government stepped in and cleaned up the town.

There were still traces and hints of its previous life but they weren't in plain sight. The goal now seems to be to fit as many different types of holiday sports into a very small area. Hot air ballooning, ATV hire, canoeing, speed boats, motor bikes, rock climbing and many more. If LP was the sleepy town, VV is its hyperactive younger brother. Everyone was charging to some activity or another, most people were soaking wet from just jumping in the river to cool off or from swimming across the river (bridges are so boring). No-one cared of you were dripping or carrying large inflatables, it's just a relaxed but active holiday place. I really liked it but being on my own, many of the activities would have been  a little dull. I spent my time walking up and down the river to various restaurants that had been recommended or sitting with my feet in the water reading my book. After my time with Mam and Dad I was enjoying not having to organize too much. The scenery in this part of the world is just stunning and doesn't get boring. My three days in Vang Vieng was fantastic but I felt a little out of place at times. Everyone was very friendly so I had loads of people to chat to at just about every place I stopped.

I spent 3 days in VV in the end before moving onto the capital city Vientiane. Another 4 hour bus journey but this one didn't involve any mountains so I wasn't too worried about it. I booked a ticket on the big bus and went to the next stage of my trip.