Until now we had always travelled by VIP buses but to go to Vang Vieng from Vientiane we have opted for the local bus, half the price of the VIP bus (30.000 Kips, 4h30). It has been an "interesting experience", the bus left 30min late, it was very full, people were seating on plastic stools in the aisle, we had the company of a few chicken stuck in boxes under the seats, there were no fans unlike in Thailand so it was really hot and we also had a 30min stop due to a flat tire! Well this is something to experience when visiting Laos!
Vang Vieng is a small but very touristic town where there is an incredibly high number of restaurants, bars and very big guesthouses, however the surrounding landscapes are very beautiful! Finding an accommodation was easy as there are so many guesthouses for all budgets, but finding a cheap restaurant which served good food was very difficult!
Tourists mainly come to Vang Vieng for tubing, which consist on going down the Nam Song river on inflated tractor inner tubes and stop at the numerous bars along the way. Another thing the town is famous for are the bars showing Friends all the day long and offering on their menus "Happy" meals and drinks, "Happy" meaning "with marijuana (or other drugs)"! We did not do the tubing but preferred to do some hiking to have a closer look at the beautiful limestone cliffs. We also did not visit any of the numerous caves. We only went to the entrance of Tam Jang cave to enjoy the nice view on the river valley. We arrived between 11.30am and 1pm while the cave was closed so we did not have to pay for crossing the Vang Vieng Resort and access the cave, we just went up the stairs to enjoy the views and left! In Vang Vieng tourists have to pay to visit each cave and to cross the bridges on the Nam Song river, 2.000 Kips for the bridge inside the Vang Vieng Resort and 4.000 Kips for the bridge in town. Only one footbridge is free North of the town.
