Where is tubing in laos

Nowadays Vang Vieng is building itself a new reputation as an outdoor activity and eco-tourism destination. This focuses on its spectacular, stunning scenery and surroundings such as the blue lagoon which can be visited as part of a tour or by tuk tuk, scooter or bicycle.

There are plenty of reasons not to skip Vang Vieng. Curiosity had also gotten the better of me and I wanted to see for myself what the Vang Vieng tubing scene of today was about. I felt apprehensive and nervous as our mini-bus arrived in Vang Vieng after a bumpy 3. Before I knew it my well-worn, white painted tube had been bungee strapped to the roof of the Songthaew with several others.

Next thing I found myself crammed into the back of the Songthaew with a group of young backpackers. Everyone else was barefoot in bikinis or swim shorts, clutching plastic bottles of spirits and mixers. I, on the other hand , was wearing walking sandals , shorts and top over a bikini , and was clutching a mouldy life-jacket. However , right then, surrounded by those excited and slightly tipsy younguns I definitely felt my age.

I began to have second thoughts about my fast approaching Vang Vieng tubing experience. The Songthaew rumbled along potholed roads for about 10 — 15 minutes until it reached our start point.

They seemed more than happy for me to tag along and share their pre-drinks, whilst good-naturedly I think teasing me about my life-jacket. The tubes were passed down to us from the roof and we carried them down to the river.

The others chucked theirs into the shallow water and jumped onto them. They pushed themselves out into the slow current and started to float away from me. Eager not to get left behind, I inelegantly manoeuvred myself into my tube getting completely soaked in the process.

I pushed myself through the shallow water into the current, scraping my bum on the rocks as I went; then I started to float slowly downstream. After a little more than a minute of floating, I spotted the first bar.

Knee deep in water were young local boys throwing filled water bottles tied to a piece of rope out to the tubers to catch. They were literally fishing for tubers and reeling them into the bar. Soon it was my turn.

One of the young boys yelled at me and I saw a third bottle hurtle towards me. This time after some frantic thrashing about I managed to grab it and laid back as he hauled me to the riverbank. As I walked up the steps a male bartender in a dress welcomed me to the bar with a shot of the local whisky, Lao Lao, which of course, I accepted. There were about 30 to 40 people in the bar, in various stages of undress and drunkenness, nothing too bad though. Scanning the room I spotted the others playing a game of beer pong and decided to join them.

When in Rome and all that! We stayed in that bar for about 45 minutes then it was back in the tube and floating down the river again. It was only about 15 minutes until we reached the second and last bar. This bar was smaller, busier and the clientele drunker. Music pumped out whilst people lounged on platforms chatting, danced badly , or played mud volleyball next to the bar. It turned out to be a drinking game with everyone sitting in a circle throwing water balloons to each other.

If you dropped it and burst, you got wet, were out of the game and had to down a shot of Lao Lao. It was starting to get late so we relocated our tubes and set back off down the river. A bit deeper and the current stronger this time meant I soon lost sight of my new friends.

It gave me chance to lie back, relax, and soak up the incredible scenery of the limestone karst mountains looming over the river.

After about an hour it was time for my Vang Vieng Tubing experience to end. The only downside was that my dry bag turned out to not be quite so dry — so much for feeling smug earlier in the day.

Water had gotten in and rendered the front-facing camera useless. If you really must take them, be sure to buy a proper dry bag from town beforehand! Silver Naga is named after the water serpent from Laos mythology. A luxury, boutique hotel, Silver Naga has an excellent location just five-minute walk from the centre of Vang Vieng. The hotel has a strong focus on ethical tourism and makes is passionate about looking after their staff, the environment, and the local economy.

I was greeted by friendly reception staff with a cold towel and a welcome drink, whilst they shared information with me about the hotel. They were also more than happy to answer my questions about tubing and helped me arrange my onward travel to Luang Prabang.

I was all checked in and shown to my room within ten minutes. Placing my tube in the water I awkwardly jump on, with my feet out front and bum dragging on the rocky riverbed. Heading out into deeper waters we both enjoy the peacefulness and serenity of floating down the Nam Song River.

Soon enough I realize my tube is feeling a soft as a pillow. Luckily we are only about meters from where we were dropped off. We decide to head back and wait for the next tuk-tuk as they carry extra tubes. Luckily we only needed to wait 20 minutes and then one came with our Stray Asia mates. Ready for round 2 the murky water below hides how deep it is. Locals are burning rubbish from their houses by the river which sends a shower of ashes down on us. A group of Asian kayakers paddle past us and are amused by the tubes.

Surprisingly there are people working at the bars along the riverside. They try to entice us in with free shots and by throwing a rope out. I am not going to lie, the bars actually look pretty cool and there are some awesome restaurants set up on the riverside as well.

We float underneath bamboo bridges as motorcycles drive on top and jump out for a swim every now and then. A group of zip liners flies above us, life along the riverside certainly is busy. Remember how I said this was during the dry season so the water was low. Well, it was so low and the current was so weak it took us five freakin hours. Everywhere online said in the dry season expect three hours, not including stops. Well, it took five hours from start to finish without getting out at any of the bars, just peacefully floating.

Though, in the end, we did get over it and started paddling downriver. It was obvious when we were getting into town that the finish point would be coming up soon. After reading online we had reached smile beach bar, the end of our journey. We got out here and it was a short walk through town to drop off our tubes. There are some things its best to take along with you while going river tubing in Vang Vieng to make the most out of your experience:.

Go Pro: For sure bring along your Go Pro if you have one. The sun shining off the sea can be super bright so protect your eyes by bringing along a pair of sunglasses. Dry Bag: If you need dry bags plenty of places in Vang Vieng sell them.

Just make sure to test it in a sink before you venture out onto the river. Waterproof phone cases are also widely available, as well as anything else you can imagine to do with tubing.

This is a town whose tourism was built around catering for tubing backpackers. You never know what could happen. Perhaps you could float on past the exit and need to take a tuk-tuk back to town.

The room was basic with only two single mattresses on the floor and a fan. Though, it was the first bamboo bungalow we stayed in so we enjoyed the novelty. Plus, it was clean, the reception was helpful and we had no unwanted visitors throughout the night which is always a bonus. During my second visit to Vang Vieng, I wanted to stay somewhere slightly more comfortable and settled on Vang Vieng Galaxy Guesthouse. They had recently opened and I was amazed at how clean and modern everything was.

Find the best hotels in the area. Magic Monkey Garden. A relaxed and chill hostel slightly outside of the center. Rock Backpackers Hostel. A social and party hard hostel on the main road of the town. Vang Vieng Galaxy Hotel. One of the newest guesthouses in the city. Amari Hotel.

A luxurious hotel with amazing views. There are plenty of awesome things to do in Vang Vieng apart from the cave. If you can I recommend you hire a bicycle or motorbike to explore some of the beautiful landscapes of the region.

Honestly, the best thing you can do is getting out of the main town, whether that is hiking a viewpoint, checking out Blue Lagoon 3 , or going river-tubing. All in all Vang Vieng is an awesome chill town worth checking out in Laos and while you are there it is definitely worth checking out the impressive Tham Chang Cave and Blue Lagoon 2. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

So, if you click on it and purchase something, I get a small percentage at no extra cost to you. As always all opinions are my own and your support is much appreciated. Find out absolutely everything you need to know about visiting Kong Lor Cave and the [ And the deaths mounted up. So in , after 6 Australians died in one 10 day period 27 in a month or so , foreign governments began asking what the hell was going on in Vang Vieng. And tubing was cancelled. And tubing began to return.

More information below. It has more legitimate definitions elsewhere but in Vang Vieng, Laos it involves you renting a tire innertube for the day, heading down to the Mekong river, and floating down the river past the various bars, rope swings and diving boards. Each bar offers free shots to entice you in, as you float down the river, some Laotian guys will throw you a rope, you grab the rope and get pulled into the bar.

Order some drinks, and carry on down the river. Absolute madness. Drugs were prevalent, the swings and slides were a death-trap, and it was perhaps the wildest backpacker experience on the continent, if not the world. The premise of tubing in is the same before the ban. You rent a tube, float down the Mekong, get drunk. But one without the deaths. You can visit the Blue Lagoon on a day-trip either independently, or book a tour and save the hassle.

Besides getting ridiculously drunk? Check out the blue lagoon, a beautiful area to chill, eat a bit and jump in the crystal clear blue waters — really nice. How to get to the Blue Lagoon: This can be quite tricky! In my opinion, 2 days — one day to explore either cycling or blue lagoon , one day to go tubing and then get out as soon as possible! So many people spend waste?

Thankfully you can now book your tickets to Vang Vieng, and around Laos, online at last! You can do that HERE. You can book these tickets yourself at the bus station or at any of the 10 zillion booking agent stalls in Vientiane or Luang Prabang, or using my link above recommended.

It works out cheaper to go through an agent, the commission they earn is less than the taxi fare for you to get to the station and back to book it for yourself. Happy travels! Also, it has great digital nomad insurance for people who are constantly travelling too!

You can read my review here , and you can sign-up here. Also, if you want to start a blog, and start to change your life, I'd love to help you! Email me on johnny onestep4ward. In the meantime, check out my super easy blog post on how to start a travel blog in under 30 minutes, here! And if you just want to get cracking, use BlueHost at a discount, through me. Oh, one last thing! When did you visit?