Vangvieng is a “Spring Break” Town, but…..
by Bob_Thompson on Jan.18, 2010, under Laos
“Sex, drugs and Inner tubes”?
That’s a title that is sure to grab some attention, but Vangvieng is not an accurate representation of Laos.
There are plenty of inner tubes and I imagine a lot more than that. But Vangvieng is an outpost. It’s like characterizing the US based on a visit to a water park.
There have been changes over the last 10 years in Laos, but I don’t think you can say that Laos has sold it’s soul either. The people in the countryside are doing the same thing they have always been doing….harvesting rice, spinning cotton, grinding corn. Every year I tell people hurry up and go the place is changing, but every year I go back and pretty much the same thing is going on.
We spend most of our time in the countryside. I notice new buildings every here and there. I notice people opening up shops. I notice some of them when they disappear too. We stop in guesthouses that have installed electric water heaters (instead of a cold bucket showers). If the last is losing some soul, most people would say “go right ahead, lose it!”
I still think now is the time to go. I’m about to put Laos on the schedule again for November.
Be glad you didn't go when this pic was taken...huge floods on Mekong!
Don’t fret over Vangvieng. Ironically, Vangvieng is the one place that hasn’t changed. It’s the same as it has been for a long time. The only difference is that there is more of it.
