Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng sits on the Nam Song with a wall of limestone karst rising directly behind it, towers and blades of grey rock riddled with caves and fringed with blue-green spring pools. For a decade it was known internationally for river tubing and the bars along the bank, and for the deaths that came with them; the bars were closed in 2012 and the town rebuilt itself around caving, climbing, kayaking and hot-air balloons. The fast train from Vientiane now puts it about an hour from the capital.

History

The town was first settled around 1353 as a staging post between Luang Prabang and Vientiane and was first called Muang Song, after the body of King Phra Nha Phao of Phai Naam was seen floating down the river; it took the name Vang Vieng under French rule in the 1890s, and since Laos opened to tourism in the late 1990s it has grown with the backpacker trade (Wikipedia, Vang Vieng).

What you'll find

• The karst wall - limestone towers rising straight out of the valley behind the town.
• The blue lagoons - spring-fed pools at the foot of the karst, several of them numbered and ticketed.
• The caves - Tham Chang, Tham Phu Kham and others, entered from the lagoons and the valley roads.
• The balloons - dawn flights over the towers, when mist is still lying in the valley.

When to go

November to March is the cool dry season, with the clearest views of the karst and the most reliable ballooning. The wet season fills the river and the lagoons but brings cloud onto the peaks. Dawn is when the balloons fly and when the mist is in the valley.

Things to know

The lagoons are ticketed separately and the best known of them is crowded by mid-morning. Tubing still operates and the river still carries a risk, particularly in high water. The town centre is a strip of guesthouses and restaurants with no character to speak of; the landscape is the reason to be here.

Nearby

Vientiane is an hour south by train, and Luang Prabang is north up the same line.