Vang Vieng in Laos has a reputation. A good one? Not necessarily. If you have started planning your trip to Laos you’ve probably heard of the city. If not, let me explain:

What’s the deal with Vang Vieng?

Ten years ago, Vang Vieng was THE ultimate party spot on the banana pancake trail (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). Its main attraction was tubing (going down on a floating inflated tire) on the Nam Song river. Backpackers from all over the world would come to “tube” and stop at one, two, or all of the bars along the river. Many of these bars also had attractions, like ropes to swing in the water or ziplines. The bars would blast music and the whole river was just one big party.

Sounds fun, right? No. All the bars were closed and even the tubing stopped for some time in 2012 after over 20 people had lost their lives. Some were drunk and drowned. Others jumped in the water and hit their head on the rocks becaus the river isn’t very deep. One of the bars even had a slide which is nowadays known as the”death slide”. If you want to know more about the specifics, this Lonely Planet thread provides harrowing first-hand recounts from people who witnessed deaths.

What is Vang Vieng like now?

Thanks to the government’s intervention, Vang Vieng has changed a lot. Nowadays it doesn’t only attract backpackers, but rather a more diverse crowd: still lots of young backpackers but also Chinese and Korean tour groups, retired people, and even some families.

Vang Vieng’s reputation

Vang Vieng still has a reputation. There are mainly five groups of people:

• The people who think of Vang Vieng’s previous reputation as Southeast Asia’s party hotspot.
• The people who say that the party’s dead and there’s no point in going anymore.
• Those who say that the party’s dead and that’s exactly why you should go.
• Others who say it’s still very much alive and Vang Vieng is still the perfect place to party in Laos.
• Finally, some say the party is still alive, and don’t like this because they’d rather enjoy Vang Vieng’s beauty in peace.

What it’s actually like

The good

Nowadays only four bars along the river are allowed to be open at the same time. If you go before 10 or 11 o’clock you will be able to enjoy the scenery and chill in the water. If you go later, you should be able to find a bar and have some fun, especially if you go with friends. There are lots of bars in the city but if that’s not your thing you can get away from them very easily.

Vang Vieng is also paradise for anyone who likes fruit shakes. You will find vendors all over town selling shakes for less than 10 000 kip. We even found a place selling them at 6 000 kip a piece – needless to say, we ate there every day! The ultimate food you need to try is the sandwiches. They cost between 10 000 and 20 000 kip a sandwich and are delicious!

Finally, there are lots of things to do in Vang Vieng. There are already countless articles that list all that so I won’t get in too much detail. That being said, with the 5 Blue lagoons, the several viewpoints (Nam Xay is my favorite – it’s the one with the motorbike!), the tubing and the gorgeous scenery, you will not be bored. There is so much to do you will definitely find something that appeals to you.

The bad

There are definitely lots of tourists in some places. Blue Lagoon 1 isn’t even worth going to because it’s basically an artificial river surrounded by restaurant tables with people staring at everyone swimming. In the city there are lots of people trying to sell you stuff, but luckily they’re not too pushy.

The annoying

The buggies!! If you have the budget for it, you can hire a buggy. But please, please don’t be one of those annoying jerks that almost run over pedestrians.

Let me explain my personal vendetta with the buggies: we decided to see Blue Lagoon 1 and 3 as well as the Nam Xay viewpoint by bike. This was not a good decision because the roads are in terrible shape and Blue Lagoon 3 is 15 km (roughly 10 miles) from Vang Vieng. That’s 30 km in total on the worst roads I have ever seen in my life (well, full disclosure, we were so tired when we got to Blue Lagoon 3 that we asked a tuk-tuk to take our bikes and us back to Vang Vieng). Anyway, I’m getting carried away.

When you’re riding a bike the last thing you want is a huge dust cloud in your face. I have never seen dust clouds as big as when the buggies pass you. Imagine the dust clouds left by a group of 10 buggies when a tourist group goes by you. In addition I also saw a couple buggies speeding and nearly hitting someone. I don’t think people realize the damage they can do.

So if you want to hire a buggy, sure. But remember to be very careful of other people. If you’re not sure you know how to drive a buggy, a tuk-tuk for the day is not that expensive.

So… Should you go to Vang Vieng?

Honestly? Yes. If you’re looking for a party, you’ll find enough bars in the city center. You can make new friends and go tubing with them – if you go in the afternoon you’ll find what you want. If you don’t want to party, you’ll also find tons of stuff to do: go tubing in the morning for beautiful views and water cooling you down from the sun. Climb to a viewpoint or swim in the lagoons! The choice is yours.

Have you been to Vang Vieng or are you thinking about going? Do you have any thoughts on what I said? Let me know in the comments!

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