Information post for those traveling to Laos in Vang Vieng. Collected here everything I ever needed. The rest is, as usual, in the comments, which I know will prompt. If you are in Laos, it is worth going there, do not limit yourself to capital Vientiane, in which there is nothing to do.
The content of the article
- one How to get to Vang Vieng from Vientiane
- 2 Where to stay in Vang Vieng - our guesthouse
- 3 What to see in Vang Vieng
- 4 Motorbike and bicycle rental
- five Vang Vieng Map
How to get to Vang Vieng from Vientiane
The buses here are very «comfortable». Therefore, if you are picky, then it is better to buy tickets not at the bus station, but in your guesthouse. It seems like they should be normal. We chose regular buses to better immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the country.
Bus to Vang Vieng
Bus to Vang Vieng
Bus schedule to Van Vieng (from the central bus station) 7.00, 8.00, 9.30, 10.30, 11.30, 13.00, 14.00 15.30, 16.00 (40.000 kip or 120 rubles), travel time 4 hours
Bus schedule to Van Vieng (if you buy a ticket at a travel agency or guesthouse) 10.00, 14.00 (50.000 kip or 200 rubles), travel time 3 hours.
Bus schedule to Luanprobang (if you buy a ticket at a travel agency or guesthouse) 8.00 (150.000 kip or 580 rubles) and at 18.30 (170.000 kip or 650 rubles), travel time 10 hours.
Bus schedule to Vientiane from Vang Vieng: 5.30, 6.00, 6.30, 7.00, 9.00, 10.00, 12.30, 13.00, 14.00.
Bus schedule Vang Vieng - Vientiane
In Vang Vieng, the bus stops near a large asphalt area - this is a former military airfield, and that's where you have to get off. Literally 5 minutes towards the river (to the left), there is the city center and a bunch of guesthouses. The bus goes further to the bus station (2 km more).
Former military airfield at Vang Vieng
Where to stay in Vang Vieng - our guesthouse
You don't have to bother with this question. The main part of Vang Vieng is solid guesthouses. It is certainly not a problem to find housing here, just go into everything and look at the room.
If you want to book in advance, then here is a link to a convenient service for finding hotels in Vang Vieng to help you, RoomGuru, with reviews from people and photos. Sometimes it is still more convenient to do everything in advance, especially for those who do not like to walk and search on the spot..
The cost of living starts from 40,000kip (160r), but the most common price is 80,000 (320r). There are also more expensive ones. Wifi is almost everywhere, but it's terribly slow, so you need to relax in this regard. Internet cafes are also common here..
We lived in a simple AK Guesthouse for 50,000kip (200r), shower and toilet inside, fan, wifi. The owners also have their own cafe, and we ate only there, very tasty.
Our guesthouse A.K.Guesthouse
What to see in Vang Vieng
Vang Vieng offers a large number of attractions for tourists - caves, kayaking, tubing, rock climbing, hiking and cycling trekking. These services are designed for people trying these sports for the first time, or they can only be considered as entertainment. We tried rock climbing and kayaking, yes it is interesting but expected more.
Kayaking in Vang Vieng
Tubing in Vang Vieng
Due to the fact that there are several times more foreigners here than locals, cunning Laotians put everything on stream: if you want to cross the bridge across the river - 10,000 kip (40r), if you want to go into the cave - another 10,000 kip. It is best to read a little, but see on the map where to go and where not.
Standard entrance - 10.000 kip
Caves worth seeing:
- Tham Chang Cave (Tham Jang Cave)
- Water Cave or Tham Nam
- Poukham Cave (Blue Lagoon)
- a large illuminated cave, located just 2 km south of Vang Vieng, walk only 15 minutes. Next to her is a wonderful font with very clear water, just for the sake of it you can go. There are not very many people. Entrance 15.000 kip (60r), plus payment for crossing the bridge - 2000 (8r) kip per person. I wrote about her here Vang Vieng neighborhood - caves and pseudo-lagoon.
- located 15 km north of Vang Vieng. There is water everywhere in it, and you move along it on a car camera (tubing) holding on to a rope with your hands. We did not go, but the people are delighted. Entrance 10.000 kip (40r), plus a tire payment. As a rule, everyone buys an excursion to this cave at a travel agency, which also includes kayaking. There are 3 more near this cave, they are not that interesting.
- located 7 km west of Vang Vieng, across the river. One of the most popular places. Next to the cave is the Blue Lagoon, where everyone swims and bungee jumping. Entrance 10.000kip per cave and lagoon. (! note, there are often signs to pseudo blue lagoons, thus the locals lure tourists to themselves!)
Some prices for excursions to Vang Vieng:
- 130.000kip (520r) half a day rock climbing
- 180.000kip (700r) kayaking to Vientiane (actually 2-3 hours by kayak, the rest by car)
- 100.000kip (400r) one-day trekking to the mountains
If you do not want to pay for excursions, then the main direction for exploring the area is the west. Take a bike, or bike and ride, guided by the map.
Motorbike and bicycle rental
Rent is found at every step here, and probably more expensive every year. The cost of a motorbike is 40,000kip (160r) handle, and 70,000kip (270r) automatic machine, the time of use is from 7 am to 7 pm. When renting for 24 hours, the cost increases by 1.5 times. On the map I indicated a place with these prices. Elsewhere, 50,000kip (200r) and 100,000kip (400r), respectively, and even more expensive with round-the-clock rent.
Rent of bicycles 10-15.000 kip (40-60 rubles) for city, and 30.000 kip (120 rubles) for mountain. I do not recommend taking the city one, there is asphalt only in Vang Vieng itself, and in the district there are only dirt roads. Mountain bikes, however, all killed completely, we walked around 3 places and still could not find serviceable ones - sometimes without brakes, sometimes without pedals, sometimes the switches do not work. As a result, they were found for 15,000 kip, killed, but at an adequate price.
And even such a moment, it is very dusty on the dirt roads of Vang Vieng! So do not plan to walk on them for a long time, it is very annoying.
Very dusty roads around
Vang Vieng Map
By tradition, the map of Vang Vieng in the form of google maps with my labels, maybe something useful.
And there are also very useful and detailed maps of Vang Vieng, with explanations, names and almost all routes. Highly recommend! It is better to print it out, since what is sold locally is not a map, but one name. I took out the cards in a separate post - Detailed map of Vang Vieng.
