Hello Steemians!
A few months ago my girlfriend and I spent a month travelling across Laos and one of our favorite places we encountered was Vang Vieng. Initially I was not very interested in visiting Vang Vieng because of the reputation it has as a party hub for backpackers, it is known for tubing down the river and drinking to excess. However, when we were in Luang Prabang someone told me that the government had cracked down on this in 2012 after too many young tourists had died either from drowning or acting foolish on the river. They shut down all the bars on the river and it resulted in the number of western tourists dropping and an increase in Asian tourists, which led to more people coming to visit the beautiful surrounding area for kayaking, climbing, and caving. So we made our plans to head to Vang Vieng and I was absolutely blown away by the experience, it is one of the most beautiful places in Laos and we spent a full day riding bicycles around the countryside exploring different caves in the area.
Blue Lagoon and Poukham Cave
The original plan was to rent bicycles to ride to Poukham Cave and check it out then come back to town but as we rode across the river I noticed signs for caves every couple hundred meters so we changed the plan to head to Poukham and then work our way back stopping at all the caves. We rented the bikes in town from our hostel and set out at about 8:30 in the morning and slowly made our way out there while soaking up the peaceful, beautiful surroundings.
Poukham cave is about 7km from the town of Vang Vieng, so the ride took us about an hour at a nice cruising pace and we arrived to find the place busy with tours arriving by the minute but we made it in quite quickly.The cost was 10,000kip to enter. We made our way up the stairs and into the cave and I was amazed at how beautiful it was, there is a large golden sleeping Buddha statue about 100m into the cave that is lit by an opening on an adjacent wall. We explored around in the dark for about 45 minutes and took loads of pictures before heading back out and down the stairs. We hopped on our bikes and went searching for the next cave we could explore.
Sok Say Cave
This next cave was one we decided to visit that was a few hundred meters beyond Poukham cave and we just decided to go because we saw the sign. This cave was discovered in 2014 and was completely different than the cave we just came from, it was completely dark and filled with slippery mud. So we took our shoes off and set off into this, honestly, terrifying cave in the dark. We made our way through the cave with the aid of my flashlight and followed the markings as it took us on a loop through the little system, it was really quite interesting. My only complaint about this was against myself for not remembering to bring a headlamp on this trip. When we finished here we set off on the bikes back in the direction of Vang Vieng.
The Cave Whose Name I Can't Remember
I have been racking my brain trying to remember the name of the next cave we went to and I can't find a trace of it online. It was about 5km from Vang Vieng on the main road and when heading back we saw a sign and turned right down a very small goat trail that lead to a small house. At the house there was a group of children who we paid 5,000kip to park our bikes and they told us how to get to the cave. We walked through several farm fields before arriving at a crystal pool of water at the caves entrance, we proceeded into the incredibly dark cave and spent the better part of an hour doing the loop before coming back out covered in mud and taking a swim in the pool. After we made it back to the bikes we found a small restaurant for lunch before proceeding on.
Sunset Hill / Pha Ngeun
The next stop on our tour was Sunset Hill, it was clearly marked on the main road and we headed in to drop our bikes and go up the mountain. To make the hike to the top of the mountain cost 10,000kip/pax and all said and done we were at the top in about 45 minutes. The trail is half forest floor and half cement and stone stairs, the stairs even have railings which was a nice surprise. There was even a girl up at the top selling drinks! The views from the top over the fields were simply beautiful, I loved every minute up there but after about 25 minutes we decided to head back down and find our next destination.
Tham Chang
This is arguably the most well know cave in town because it practically is in the town itself. At the end of the main road in Vang Vieng there is a small suspension walking bridge to cross the river and head for the cave. The cost was 15,000kip/pax and the stairs were steep but offered a beautiful view of the river and surrounding forest. Inside the cave was probably the least interesting for me as it had a large path and stairs that led you through a pre lit cave. It was very nice but not my favorite, however I did love all the crystal clear pools around the bottom of the stairs, it was quite beautiful.
There were loads more caves to see and I wish we had time to explore them all but maybe next time. I was hesitant to visit Vang Vieng in the first place but I should not have been because it was one of my favorite places in Laos, the people were wonderful and the nature that surrounds the town in absolutely magical. I can't recommend it enough and I hope some of you get a chance to see it, thanks for reading!