Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng was first settled around 1353 as a staging post between Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Originally named Mouang Song after the body of the deceased King Phra Nha Phao of Phai Naam was seen floating down the river, the town was renamed Vang Vieng during French colonial rule in the 1890s.{{cite web |url=http://www.stdplaos.com/technical_reports.html |publisher=STDP Laos |title=Vang Veng Staying Longer Spending More |date=August 2009 |access-date=12 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829183730/http://www.stdplaos.com/technical_reports.html |archive-date=29 August 2011 |url-status=dead}}{{cite journal |last=Phouangsava |first=P |date=n.d. |url=http://www.muonglao.com/vangvieng.html |title=History of Vang Vieng |journal=Visiting Muong Lao |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=30 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130093138/http://www.muonglao.com/vangvieng.html |url-status=live }}

Significant expansion of the town and its infrastructure occurred during the 1964-1973 Vietnam War when the US constructed an air force base and runway that was used by Air America. The airstrip was then called "Lima site 6".{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PuTNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA629 |page=629 |title=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |year=2011 |isbn=9781851099610 |access-date=9 November 2023 |archive-date=9 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109111939/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PuTNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA629 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSTQdorOvr0C&pg=PA125 |page=125 |title=The Rough Guide to Laos |author1=Jeff Cranmer |author2=Steven Martin |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2002 |isbn=9781858289052 |access-date=9 November 2023 |archive-date=9 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109111935/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qSTQdorOvr0C&pg=PA125 |url-status=live }} The runway has not been built on and can easily be seen via aerial or satellite images located between the main street and the national highway (Route 13). American plane hangars also remain in the area.

Since Laos opened up for tourism in the late 1990s, the town has grown substantially due to the influx of backpackers and associated business development. The town became popular with tourists due to the opportunities for adventure tourism along the Nam Song River and in the spectacular limestone karst landscape surrounding the town.

Vang Vieng has a tropical monsoon climate according to the Köppen climate classification, with a distinct dry season and a lengthy and rainy wet season, totalling about 3300 millimeters a year. The wet season lasts seven months, from April to October, and is characterized by high amounts of rainfall, which peaks in July with an average of 840 millimeters. The dry season spans November to March, and features cooler temperatures than during the rest of the year. The weather in Vang Vieng is coolest during the months of December and January, and hottest from March to May. Overall, the temperature ranges from an average low of 13.5 °C in January to an average high of 34 °C in April.{{cite web |title=Vang Vieng Climate |url=https://en.climate-data.org/asia/laos/vientiane/vang-vieng-56707/ |website=Climate-Data.org |access-date=16 November 2019 |archive-date=16 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116142001/https://en.climate-data.org/asia/laos/vientiane/vang-vieng-56707/ |url-status=live }}

{{Weather box

|location=Vang Vieng

|width = 100%

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|Jan high C = 28.1

|Feb high C = 30.5

|Mar high C = 32.6

|Apr high C = 34.0

|May high C = 32.9

|Jun high C = 32.3

|Jul high C = 31.1

|Aug high C = 31.0

|Sep high C = 31.4

|Oct high C = 31.0

|Nov high C = 29.5

|Dec high C = 27.5

|year high C=

|Jan mean C = 20.8

|Feb mean C = 22.8

|Mar mean C = 25.2

|Apr mean C = 27.5

|May mean C = 27.8

|Jun mean C = 27.9

|Jul mean C = 27.3

|Aug mean C = 27.2

|Sep mean C = 27.1

|Oct mean C = 25.8

|Nov mean C = 23.6

|Dec mean C = 20.8

|year mean C=

|Jan low C = 13.5

|Feb low C = 15.2

|Mar low C = 17.9

|Apr low C = 21.1

|May low C = 22.8

|Jun low C = 23.6

|Jul low C = 23.6

|Aug low C = 23.4

|Sep low C = 22.9

|Oct low C = 20.6

|Nov low C = 17.8

|Dec low C = 14.2

|year low C=

|Jan rain mm = 9

|Feb rain mm = 18

|Mar rain mm = 49

|Apr rain mm = 174

|May rain mm = 369

|Jun rain mm = 489

|Jul rain mm = 840

|Aug rain mm = 662

|Sep rain mm = 508

|Oct rain mm = 115

|Nov rain mm = 44

|Dec rain mm = 23

|year rain mm=

|rain colour = green

|source = Climate-Data.org

|date=November 2019}}

The city is served by the Vientiane–Boten Expressway since its opening in 2020; previously the only major road access was through Route 13. It is served by a station on the Boten–Vientiane railway.

Image:Karst peaks with sea of clouds at sunrise, South view from the top of Mount Nam Xay, Vang Vieng, Laos.jpg

File:Green karst peaks seen from the top of Mount Nam Xay a sunny morning during the monsoon Vang Vieng Laos.jpg

File:Vang Vieng, Laos. IV.jpg

Vang Vieng has become a backpacker-oriented town, with the main street featuring guest houses, bars, restaurants, internet cafes, and tour agencies.{{cite web |url=http://www.laos-travel-guide.com/vang-vieng.html |publisher=Lao Travel Guide |year=2008 |title=Vang Vieng Travel Guide |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202070646/http://www.laos-travel-guide.com/vang-vieng.html |archive-date=2 December 2013}} Attractions of the town include inner tubing and kayaking on the Nam Song River, which, until 2012, was lined with bars selling Beer Lao and Lao-Lao, and equipped with rope swings, zip lines, swimming and diving into blue lagoon, and large decks for socializing.{{cite web |url=http://goseasia.about.com/od/laos/a/tubing_vang_vieng_laos.htm |publisher=goseasia |year=2011 |title=Vang Vieng tubing |access-date=15 February 2011 |archive-date=25 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425164558/http://goseasia.about.com/od/laos/a/tubing_vang_vieng_laos.htm |url-status=dead }}

Vang Vieng locals have organised themselves into a cooperative business association to sell tubing as an activity, in a system in which 1,555 participating households are divided into 10 village units, with each unit taking its turn on a ten-day rotation to rent inner-tubes to the tourists.

Thanongsi Sorangkoun, owner of an organic farm in Vang Vieng, says that tubing inadvertently began in 1999 when he bought a few rubber tubes for his farm volunteers to relax on along the river.{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/travel/down-the-tube-20110727-1hzzc.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |title=Down the tube |date=30 June 2011 |access-date=6 September 2011 |archive-date=27 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227103912/http://www.smh.com.au/travel/down-the-tube-20110727-1hzzc.html |url-status=live }}

During the wet season, the river can be a series of rapids.

Other activities include trekking and rock climbing in the limestone mountains. There are also numerous caves, such as Tham Phu Kham half an hour north of Vang Vieng by tuk-tuk or the Tham Non and Tham Jang caves closer to Vang Vieng.{{cite web |url=http://www.laos.co.uk/VV.html |publisher=Lao.co.uk |year=2007 |title=Vang Vieng ... as it used to be |access-date=15 February 2011 |archive-date=29 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129033718/http://www.laos.co.uk/VV.html |url-status=live }}

A market five kilometres north of town sells Lao textiles, household items, and foodstuffs. The town is on the main north–south highway, Route 13 from Luang Prabang to the capital, Vientiane. It is about eight hours by bus to Luang Prabang and four hours to Vientiane (152 km).

Just a short walk from town are many ethnic Lao, Kmou, and Hmong villages, while Vang Vieng Organic Farm is around 4 km north of the town in the village of Phoudindaeng. There are opportunities for community involvement such as teaching, while it is also possible to stay in a house made of mud bricks at the organic farm.{{cite web |url=http://www.travel-to-teach.org/laos/volunteer-vang-vieng.php |publisher=Travel to Teach |year=2008 |title=Volunteer Laos-Vang Vieng |access-date=15 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728123824/http://www.travel-to-teach.org/laos/volunteer-vang-vieng.php |archive-date=28 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://greentravelerguides.com/2009/01/vang-vieng-organic-farm/ |publisher=Green Traveller Guide |date=5 January 2009 |title=Vang Vieng's little big man |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402081435/http://greentravelerguides.com/2009/01/vang-vieng-organic-farm/ |archive-date=2 April 2013}}

Wat Done Hor is the oldest of the five temples in Vang Vieng, built in 1903.

Due to the influx of backpackers, Vang Vieng locals have seen drastic changes in their community.{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/party-town-20120411-1ws39.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=12 April 2012 |title=Party town |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415040716/http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/party-town-20120411-1ws39.html |archive-date=15 April 2012}} In recent years, Vang Vieng has become a stop on the Southeast Asia backpacker circuit and the main street has many guest houses, bars, restaurants, internet cafes and tour agencies.

There are concerns that the town is in danger of losing its charm as it becomes full of tourists, mushroom shakes, and episodes of Friends, a US sitcom shown in many bars.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.smh.com.au/travel/archives/2009/08/paradise_lost.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=26 August 2009 |title=Paradise Lost |access-date=14 February 2011 |archive-date=6 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706112046/http://blogs.smh.com.au/travel/archives/2009/08/paradise_lost.html |url-status=live }} The New Zealand Herald wrote, "If teenagers ruled the world, it might resemble Vang Vieng".{{cite web |last1=Kennedy-Good |first1=Matt |title=Vang Vieng: A tragedy waiting to happen |date=2009-09-22 |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10598855 |website=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=2014-12-15 |archive-date=25 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025221514/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10598855 |url-status=live }} Safety measures for the tubing have been described as "non-existent". Tubing combined with heavy drinking has resulted in tourist drownings.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-14918533 |title=Bournemouth man died after river 'tubing' in Laos |website=BBC News |date=2011-09-14 |access-date=2025-05-19}} It was reported that 22 tourists died on the river in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/man-dies-tubing-in-laos-river-20120112-1pvtf.html |publisher=The Age |date=12 January 2012 |title=Man dies 'tubing' in Laos river |access-date=9 March 2012 |archive-date=2 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302171539/http://www.theage.com.au/national/man-dies-tubing-in-laos-river-20120112-1pvtf.html |url-status=live }}

The Lao government is planning to put more controls on the urban sprawl of Vang Vieng,{{cite web |url=http://laovoices.com/2009/07/22/keeping-vang-viengs-tourism-vibrant/ |work=Vientiane Times |date=16 June 2009 |title=A plan to keep Vangvieng tourism alive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819201449/http://laovoices.com/2009/07/22/keeping-vang-viengs-tourism-vibrant/ |archive-date=19 August 2011}} while the Laos National Tourism Administration has "awareness programs" that ask tourists to "respect and strictly follow the rules, regulations, tradition and cultures of the Lao people", while also educating local people to maintain the Lao identity, way of life, tradition, and culture and not imitate tourist behaviour.{{cite web |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/travel/world/idyllic-laos-threatened-by-sex-drugs-and-debaucherous-behaviour/story-e6frezk9-1225841761972 |website=The Daily Telegraph |date=17 March 2010 |title=Laos threatened by sex and drugs |access-date=15 February 2011 |archive-date=2 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002095859/http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/travel/world/idyllic-laos-threatened-by-sex-drugs-and-debaucherous-behaviour/story-e6frezk9-1225841761972 |url-status=live }} Vang Vieng is known to have a problem with drugs, which are easily accessible to both tourists and local children.{{cite web |last1=Dhiradityakul |first1=Kris |title=The decline and fall of Vang Vieng |url=http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/314/features.shtml |website=Chiang Mai Mail |access-date=2014-12-15 |ref=v. 8, no. 8 |archive-date=8 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708143405/http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/314/features.shtml |url-status=live }}

Locals have said that tubing and tourism are destroying the town's culture and encouraging crime among children, while loud music destroys the area's tranquility.{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/travel/down-the-tube-20110727-1hzzc.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |title=Down the tube |date=30 June 2011 |access-date=6 September 2011 |archive-date=27 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227103912/http://www.smh.com.au/travel/down-the-tube-20110727-1hzzc.html |url-status=live }} A report on the future of tourism in Vang Vieng found that many budget tubers were "oblivious to, or uncaring about, the types of social, economic and environmental impact they are associated with." A master plan for Vang Vieng noted that local grievances include pollution, inappropriate behaviour of tourists and environmental damage.{{cite web |url=http://www.stdplaos.com/downloads/technical_reports/part1_b/Vang%20Vieng%20Master%20Plan.%20DFR.pdf |publisher=Hansen Partnership |title=Vang Vieng Town and Environs Master Plan, 2010 -2020 |date=Dec 2009 |access-date=12 October 2011 |archive-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425062022/http://www.stdplaos.com/downloads/technical_reports/part1_b/Vang%20Vieng%20Master%20Plan.%20DFR.pdf |url-status=live }}

Brett Dakin, the author of Another Quiet American, a chronicle of two years in Laos working for the tourist authority, said, "Each time a young Australian woman strolls down the street in a bikini, a bearded American smokes a joint on a guesthouse terrace, or a group of Koreans tumbles drunkenly out of a restaurant, it saps a little more of the essence of a town like Vang Vieng."

As of June 2014, the US State Department said that although Laos generally had a low rate of violent crime, "some tourists have been robbed and sexually assaulted".{{Cite web |url=https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country/laos.html |title=Laos, US State Department, retrieved June 2014. |access-date=25 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905122843/http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country/laos.html |archive-date=5 September 2015 |url-status=dead}} Many restaurants in the Vang Vieng area offer menu items, particularly "pizzas", "shakes", or "teas" that may contain unknown substances or opiates. These products are often advertised as "happy" or "special" items. These unknown substances or opiates can be dangerous, causing serious illness or even death.

Vang Vieng's hospital recorded 27 tourist deaths in 2011 due to drowning or diving head first into rocks.{{cite web |last1=Haworth |first1=Abigail |title=Vang Vieng, Laos: the world's most unlikely party town |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/07/vang-vieng-laos-party-town |website=The Guardian-The Observer |access-date=2014-12-15 |date=2012-04-12 |archive-date=1 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201214302/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/07/vang-vieng-laos-party-town |url-status=live }} Most fatalities occurred on the same bar-heavy stretch of river that's less than 1 km long. In a 2012 interview with The Guardian newspaper, a senior doctor at the Vang Vieng Hospital, Dr Chit, said the overall figure was higher because "many fatalities are taken straight to Vientiane". In early 2012, two Australian backpackers died within a month. Dr Chit said 5 to 10 backpackers a day arrive at the local hospital with injuries such as broken bones or infected gashes, or sickness caused by alcohol intoxication or other drugs. "There are no safety measures or supervision, no helmets," says Dr Chit. "We're not equipped to treat anything serious."

The Guardian reported that tourist deaths had brought a sense of bad karma for Laotian villagers living near the river. Today, local people avoid the river, once a part of everyday life for bathing, playing, fishing, and washing clothes. "We don't want to swim in the river any more," explains La Phengxayya, 25, a primary school teacher in Phoudindaeng, the village closest to the tubing area. "We believe there are evil spirits in the water because so many young foreigners have died."

{{main|2024 Laos methanol poisoning}}

In November 2024, six foreign tourists, including two Australian teenagers, two Danish women, a British lawyer, and an American tourist, died of suspected methanol poisoning after consuming contaminated alcohol at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng. The tragedy, which also hospitalized several others, prompted Laotian authorities to detain eight hostel staff members and launch an investigation into the source of the contamination. Governments, including Australia, updated travel advisories, warning citizens about the dangers of consuming local alcohol in Southeast Asia. The incident significantly impacted Laos's tourism-dependent economy, as travelers canceled trips and raised concerns over safety standards in the country. Tourism, a critical sector for Laos, faced losses as international confidence waned, prompting calls for stricter regulations on alcohol production and improved enforcement to restore trust.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/asia/australia-backpacker-dies-methanol-poisoning-laos-intl-hnk/index.html |title=Australian backpackers among six dead in suspected methanol poisoning in Laos |last=Yeung |first=Jessie |newspaper=CNN |date=21 November 2024 |access-date=26 November 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/21/britons-among-ill-suspected-methanol-poisoning-laos |title=British lawyer among six to die in suspected methanol poisoning in Laos |last1=Davies |first1=Caroline |last2=Ferguson |first2=Donna |newspaper=The Guardian |date=22 November 2024 |access-date=26 November 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/warnings/australia-issues-travel-warning-for-laos-following-methanol-poisonings/news-story/539994ddcde6a32b46bc79aa4cd7c7b1 |title=Australia warns travelers after methanol poisoning deaths in Laos |newspaper=news.com.au |date=24 November 2024 |access-date=26 November 2024}}

In the third quarter of 2012, the Lao government carried out a crackdown in Vang Vieng, pulling down all the riverside bars. Tubing is still going on, but in a much more controlled fashion.{{cite web |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/transcript/id/601573/n/The-Party-s-Over |website=SBS Dateline |title=The Party's Over |date=16 October 2012 |access-date=18 February 2013 |archive-date=15 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915011118/http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/transcript/id/601573/n/The-Party-s-Over |url-status=live }}

By October 2013, one climbing instructor was reported to have said that visitors were now spending more time participating in activities such as climbing, kayaking, and mountain biking. "Vang Vieng has come back to us again… it's like it used to be", he was quoted as saying.{{cite web |url=http://www.iol.co.za/travel/on-my-bike-in-lovely-laos-1.1599594#.Uqqv9eI3Dbp |website=IOL Travel |title=On my bike in lovely Laos |date=30 October 2013 |access-date=13 December 2013 |archive-date=13 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213083950/http://www.iol.co.za/travel/on-my-bike-in-lovely-laos-1.1599594#.Uqqv9eI3Dbp |url-status=live }}

Around the same time, the Bangkok Post reported that although the number of Westerners has dropped, visitors from Japan, China, and South Korea were on the rise, making up for the loss. The changing trend posed a new problem as tourists from Asia did not favour cheap accommodation and preferred more upmarket places, the report added.{{cite web |url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/374171/more-asians-going-to-vangvieng |website=Bangkok Post |title=Backpackers shun Vangvieng in Laos |date=11 October 2013 |access-date=2014-12-15}}

• Banana Pancake Trail

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{{Commons category|Vang Vieng}}

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Category:Populated places in Vientiane Province