7. Riding The Rails: Vang Vieng
From a quartet we’d been reduced to a trio, not that mattered much as we all had traveled in various combinations before with usually the same hilarious experiences.
A quarter to three we arrived at Vang Vieng Station, David had left the train at Luang Prabang an hour earlier.
For Vang Vieng, I had prepared myself and selected a guesthouse, so at least we had a name to tell the driver!
The station wasn’t that far out of town and a little later we were dropped off in front of something that looked suspiciously like a luxury hotel with prices in US dollars!
At the reception they told us that the guesthouse was gone, replaced by their fancy hotel...
'Would we like a room, special promotion!'
'No thanks', we departed and very quickly found a more budget-suitable place: Khamphone Guesthouse.
This of course had to be celebrated with a small beer-tasting session!
Well fortified by this liquid meal we set off on a walk through town, wandered towards the river, crossed a rickety bridge, returned via a slightly better one, and continued exploring.
After a while, we decided that a drinking stop was in order before dinner and discuss our impressions so far.
Unfortunately, these were mostly negative, we considered this place a dump, despite the fantastic surrounding countryside for which Vang Vieng is rightly famous.
The high number of tourist-related shops (activities, massage, restaurant, hotel, rental, guesthouse, etc.) combined with an overall shabby appearance made us seriously doubt whether we should bother with another night here…
A short walk brought us to the riverside and just by sheer luck we entered a tourist eatery BUT without music:
Green Restaurant.
Don’t misunderstand me, I love music, have a ridiculously large collection, and am listening to Wes Montgomery while writing this, but at times I prefer not to listen to any.
The restaurant had a large terrace with great views of the Karst mountains in the distance and the sounds of insects, chickens, and assorted fowl provided a perfect background soundtrack.
Checking out the menu
The food was a bit different from what we expected, but still very acceptable, especially with some beer Lao to wash it down.
This way the day ended on a positive note we all agreed!
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Great view at the restaurant.
Yes...I think you have caught the essence of our feeling about this town, KK...way too touristy for us, but one cannot ignore the beauty of the Natual setting