AndSheXplores

After a wonderful prolonged stay in Luang Prabang we headed to discover the hidden gems of Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is renowned for being the party capital of Laos. We didn’t come for the partying though but rather for the amazing natural sights, hikes, views and lagoons. So even if you’re not a party animal (anymore), Vang Vieng will welcome with you with open arms with its lovely nature and many outdoor activity possibilities.

Driving a loop with a scooter

The landscape is just beautiful and it’s fun just driving around and exploring Vang Vieng’s beauties. The best way to explore Vang Vieng is renting a motorbike as tuk-tuks are way overpriced and don’t give you much flexibility. You could also rent a driver for the whole day but we rather explored Vang Vieng on our own. Many roads around Vang Vieng are not paved so be prepared for a bumpy ride.

A tour I truly recommend is heading from downtown across the wooden bridge towards the Blue lagoon 1. Follow the sign for Nam Xay and just continue down the road. The road makes a loop passing all the blue lagoons and offers great views. It takes and hour or so without stops but I assure you’ll have reasons to step off that scooter.

Nam Xay viewpoint – Vang Vieng’s hidden gem

Vang Vieng is extremely picturesque from the ground but views from atop some hills will blow you away. Our hidden gem of Vang Vieng is Nam Xay viewpoint which is a few minutes away from Blue Lagoon 1. Follow the road to Blue Lagoon 1 and take a left at one intersection; check the coordinates here. The climb is quite steep but the local farmer has built bamboo fences on more challenging parts so you also have a small fee. Without those bamboo fences though it would be really difficult to climb up, especially if it rained the same day and the path was muddy as in our case. It should take you 30-40 minutes to get on top but all worth the effort. We’ve heard that a guy went there for sunset but ended up sleeping overnight to see the sunrise. Can’t really blame him 🙂

Blue lagoon

This is the most famous natural sight in Vang Vieng. There are actually 3 blue lagoons around Vang Vieng, the Blue Lagoon #1 being the most famous. After seeing wonderful photos on Instagram we expected an amazing sight at blue lagoon 1 but were quite disappointed. The lagoon was already super crowded when we got there at 8 AM, it’s right next to a parking lot and there are tons of cheap shops all around. I bet the sight must have been spectacular some time ago but nowadays it’s too touristic and does not feel authentic at all. As a result we decided to skip the other ones, though we passed Blue Lagoon #3 which was a lot nicer and natural than its more famous counterpart.

Rice fields

As quite common in this part of the world, Vang Vieng has some impressive rice fields. Unfortunately for us we were in dry season, though that did not mean we didn’t have a proper storm on our second day. Maybe that is why some rice fields look pretty awesome like this one.

Other activities in Vang Vieng

We stayed in Vang Vieng for 3 nights and left early morning to catch the flight from Vientiane. If we would have more time we would definitely do some more hikes and get some nice views such as the Pha Ngeun viewpoint. You could also visit some of the caves or even go a kayaking trip. There are also good zipline courses though our standards for ziplining is pretty high after our memorable Flight of the Gibbon experience in Chiang Mai.

Bottom line, Vang Vieng will get you adventures – either through its party scene or through nature or even both 🙂

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