Vang Vieng, Laos :: May 28 – June 3, 2017
Agreeing to never take another night bus, we woke early in Vientiane, and boarded a bus to Vang Vieng.
I was super excited for this part of the trip for a few reasons. First, everyone said it was paradise, a place of true natural utopia. Secondly, and in no particular order, it was going to be Isabel’s 4th birthday…
The drive saw us through winding mountain roads, with the occasional waterfall on the mountain side, and breathtaking valley’s on the other. We approached the town of about 25,000 people, and were blown away by it’s apparent beauty. It lays on the Nam Song river in a valley surrounded by karst mountains, everything green. We all kind of looked at each other, smiling with excitement in our eyes. We went straight to our “Hotel”, which unlike in Vientiane, we had pre-booked. It was at the edge of town, with an amazing pool at the end of the property and rice fields just beyond it, which led all the way to the mountain. It was a surreal place to go for a morning dip, as just beyond would be workers in the rice field, conical hat and all, and the mountains, which kept an eye on us all.
Pool at our hotel with the rice fields in the background.
We rented bicycles again, which was the ideal way to get around a town of this size. 10 minutes ride from one end to the other. Although it was a beautiful town, all the action happened outside it’s perimeter.
Our research indicated that not 1, but a series of “Blue Lagoon’s” were in the district. It was scorching hot during the days, so we fell into a routine of exploring early in the day. Breakfast (which was included by our accommodations), was from 7-10am. So we would either wake at about 5am to bicycle where we were going, and try to make it back before 10. Or, we’d eat right at 7, then go go go.
Bicycling!
The first morning we took off on bike, through the country side, to Blue Lagoon #1. A paved road the whole way made it only about a 40 minute ride. It was essentially a natural spring fed river. Crystal clear, and very cool water made it an excellent reward after cycling in the already blistering heat. It had an old and magnificent tree which had grown on an angle directly overtop. One branch about 3 meters over the water, another was probably 7 or 8 meters high. Ellie and Isabel watched as I climbed to the the top. It was one of those jumps that looked reasonable from a distance, but a little more terrifying once looking down from above. I made the leap, then swam to shore, exhilarated and refreshed. The girls both agreed that they could easily make the plunge from the lower platform, so I led them as we climbed up. Once we were there, they delayed…and delayed. A few other people formed a line behind us before the girls decided they wanted to walk back down. Knowing my girls, I persisted. “You can do it, you can, and once you do, you’ll want to go again and again”, they agreed, and made the first jump successfully, then my prophesy was realized. Over and over, they made the plunge. By this time, the Chinese tourist had arrived by bus, and were all pointing and applauding the girls, who were so young, and already jumping in and swimming all by them selves.
Ellie jumping in!
Isabel taking the plunge!
Naturally, the next day saw us set out for Blue Lagoon #2. This time we cycled past the paved road which ended at the first Blue Lagoon, and continued on a bumpy unpaved road. We noticed a terrifying snake that laid dead in gravel, I mentioned how it was a rare example of the wildlife we anticipated before arriving in Laos, “The land of a Million Elephants”.
Morning sunrise on our way to blue lagoon 2.
Cow crossing!
Shortly after the sun came up, we reached our destination. Another tourist type place, but we got there before the buses showed up to unload the Chinese. In fact, we arrived even before the “employee’s”. Another spring fed river that led into a small pond at the foot of a mountain. A bridge crossed the river, and a zipline overhead. I grabbed a hold, and glide foot first overtop the river until I decided to let go and plunge into the untested water. Cold…Fresh…”Whoo Whoo”! What a magical place in the middle of the jungle, near the little town of Vang Vieng, Loas.
Quiet lagoon so early in the morning.
Lagoon #2 all to our selves!
On the way back we saw a sign…”Cave –>”, so we investigated. It led us to a modest residence (even for Loation standards) surrounded by rice and corn fields close to a karst mountain. Eventually, we were greeted by a tiny young lady who confirmed we were in the right place. For a small donation, she led us through the fields to the base of the mountain. A crystal pool sat next to an opening in the mountain. She gave us flashlights that fastened to our heads like a hat, and in we went. Pitch black, and damp, we trekked into the middle of the mountain for about 10 minutes. Her broken english was just strong enough to ensure Lisa and I that we weren’t making a fatal mistake by following her. My instincts didn’t need to be that in tune to tell that she was a sweetheart. When we were trough with the eerie cave, we were told to go for a swim in the crystal pool. It was amazing!!! at the deepest only about 6ft deep, you could look down and see every pebble beneath. Although late in the morning at this point, we were off the beaten path, so no other tourists. In fact, I got the impression that all but a few miss this opportunity altogether, failing even to investigate. I’m fairly certain I will remember this as the coolest place I have ever swam. Lisa and I locked eyes as our girls swam between us and I could read her mind…”this is living!”….Although I could be wrong, she could have just been thinking “Thank God for this pool, it’s blazing hot!”
The amazing spring by the cave.
That evening we needed to finish preparing for Isabel’s birthday. We had already secured the activities for the following day, but needed some decorations for our room, and gifts that she could open. It’s harder than one might imagine to find balloons in a place like Vang Viang. While Lisa took the girls for a swim, I cycled from one end of town to the other, and managed only some gold ribbon and some cheesy gifts. I figured the cheesy gifts, wrapped, would still be well received by a 4 yr old girl, my darling Isabel. Some gold wrapped chocolate coins, a pair of swimming googles, and some pens and notepads. At dinner (a place we had been frequenting), Lisa mentioned to the owner our dilemma. The owner made some calls, and later took Lisa to find some balloons. That night, with the girls asleep, we blew up a zillion balloons, decorated the room, and wrapped all the cheesy gifts. Being mostly a tourist town, we found a great bakery, and picked up some croissants, scones, and chocolate milk. We set our alarm for 5am, and Isabel woke to breakfast in (a fully decorated) bed. Then we took her outside, where our ride was waiting for us. We hopped in a truck and went a few minutes to where her surprise was awaiting. We saw the massive balloon stretched out over the wide open space (a parking lot that doubled as an airfield). They filled it by torch with hot air.
Excited for the balloon to fill!
The balloon rose to a vertical position before the urged us to “Get in, Get in”. I climbed in last still feeling slightly unprepared. They closed the gate behind me just as the basket rose from the ground.
By design, the “flight” coincided with sunrise. We smoothly ascended meter by meter, seemingly in sink with the sun that started to appear behind the mountain to the east. The pilot wasted no time getting us to our maximum height of 600 meters…taller than the CN tower (for our Toronto friends and family).
The basket was about as tall as Isabel, so Lisa and I took turns holding her so she could see out. Ellie was okay on her toes, but gained further advantage by standing on my toes. We looked straight down to see what appeared to be a miniature model town surrounded by checkered fields of different shades of green. We looked to the horizons from above the mountain peaks to see never ending sprawling greenery and valleys still hosting foggy patches as they began to lift with the morning sun.
Birthday moment in the sky!
Up, up and away! Happy Birthday Isabel!
We were only up for about 20 minutes before we started to descend. The pilot pulled on a lever which opened a hole at the top of the colourful balloon. We went down pretty fast! So much so, that I was just about to start asking questions…But then he hit the burner again and we levelled off at about 100 meters. From there he took us slowly and precisely down to a landing spot where his teammates (about 6-8) people helped us land. The landing was so smooth that if we had had a glass of water balancing on the basket, it wouldn’t have fallen over, or spilled a drop.
Safe landing.
From there we headed back to the hotel, still floating from our experience (pardon the pun). We had another breakfast, then a scavenger hunt for her (lame) presents. Lisa’s truly great idea. A way to make lame prezzies cool, have her go with a map and hunt for them.
Birthday prezzies
After a swim and a long nap, we went for a nice dinner, then back to the fancy bakery for birthday cake. It was a day for the ages, one I’ll never forget.
Isabel, Mom, Ellie and I love you so much!
Happy Birthday Isabel!
The next day we went for a kayak on the Nam Song. Another scorcher of a day, we started way upstream and slowly made our way back into town. It was the perfect way to say goodbye to Vang Vieng… A way to take one last look at it’s natural beauty, paddling down the river between the mountains. We past by local children playing in the water, and just took it all in. We went in the afternoon and I remember the sun at our back most of the way. We’d look back to see it just over the mountains behind, and it’s reflection although blinding, lit the beautiful greens that were in front of us and made the water shimmer and sparkle like a diamond.
Kayaking down the river.
I remember feeling so lucky and thankful that we had a chance to experience Vang Vieng, and I was excited to go to our next destination, Luang Probang, which was one of the reasons we decided to take this crazy adventure to begin with.
