The ramshackle tourist town itself offers no real attractions, but the row of limestone karst mountains across the river provides a stunning backdrop and is the setting for some impressive caves.
Tham Poukham - Blue Lagoon, (7 km west from town, maps provided where you can rent bicycles, accessible by bicycle or motorbike. Be careful along the way, in recent years a number of imposters have shown up, all claiming to be the 'blue lagoon'. Keep to the main road and you should be OK). 8AM-6PM. A spring fed lagoon at the bottom of "Golden Cave". Nice place to relax, swim and play on the rope swing. The waters are inhabitated with a few hundred carp fish that will eat locally sold fish food out of your hand. The cave above requires a modest 100 m hike up a makeshift bamboo ladder. Once inside, there is a short walk to the Sleeping Golden Buddha and glimmering stalactites about 300 m further inside. 10,000 kip entry and 10,000 kip to rent a head-torch, recommended if you go deeper into the cave than the Buddha (travellers warn to check the battery). Guides for the cave advertised at 50,000 kip but, like most things in SE Asia, this is probably negotiable. �
Padeng cave and Ring cave, (Cross a footbridge over the river, follow the signs and white flags (garbage bags) on sticks through the field). Across the river a 1.5 km path marked by white flags cuts through the fields towards the limestone mountains. The smallest hill has very rickety ladders (read: dangerous) to aid in climbing to the top. Halfway up the mountain is a cave. Another 1 km along the path past the mountain goes through a small forest and arrives at a cave. A few sleepy Laotians guard the cave's entrance and a hand painted sign says that guides are mandatory. It costs extra to go to the lagoon in the cave, and the guides will let you know that "tipping extra is ok".10,000 kip for the hill, 15,000 kip for the cave, 30,000 kip to go to the cave lagoon. �
Xang Cave, (On the south end of the main road. Turn right at the sign to Jam Mee Guesthouse). Decent cave but not worth the 15,000 kip entrance fee plus 2,000 kip per person/3,000 kip per motorbike bridge crossing fee. The cave is well lit and has stairs running throughout that makes it an easy self-guided tour. One part has a really nice view of the farms surrounding the city. If you've been to other caves it's really not worth the money (similar but more expensive) �
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Vang Vieng
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Vang Vieng - updated Apr 2024
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Vang Vieng Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
