Vang Vieng, Southeast Asia's Adventure Capital!
Vang Vieng is one of the cheapest places in the world to go on a hot air balloon ride, but I opted for the paramotor. They take place at sunrise and sunset and I was the only one doing it at 7am this day. I got the helmet and was strapped in, although it didn’t feel very secure. As soon as the pilot got the all clear, we took off. It was unlike anything I had ever felt.
We flew over the Nam Song river, along the dramatic Karst mountains, and over the lush green rice fields. It was breathtaking. There was one hot air balloon in the air as well, but I was happy to have paid a little extra to have this experience all to myself and I felt so exposed to the elements without the basket.
Once we were flying over the in clouds covered karst mountains, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness and tears of happiness started rolling down my eyes. We arrived back down, but this was only the start of an unforgettable day.
We enjoyed ourselves so much at Blue Lagoon number 3. There are a few different rope swings, tubes to lounge in and more. There are more lagoons, but we didn’t have time to visit them all unfortunately. The water is source water, which is why it has such a beautiful blue color.
We drove through the stunning rice fields towards the Nam Xay Viewpoint. We made it to the entrance of the viewpoint at a quarter to 4 and we shouldn’t have gotten there any later. After a muddy, challenging hike we made it to the top. This is one of the most beautiful viewpoints I have seen all around the world!
The final activity I did here was mostly popular with backpackers. It's Tipsy Tubing! I could have gone for the kayaking, but someone convinced me that that was too much work. Little did I know the tubing wasn’t as straight forward as I thought. After getting stranded 3 times I managed to get away from the river bank and grab onto the rope to be pulled into the first bar. I missed the second bar and they recovered me by boat a bit further downstream. It was hilarious. The tubing from the second to the third bar took much longer, probably about an hour, but our technique was much better this time around and we got to enjoy the gorgeous landscape along the way.
Whoever still had it in them ended up at Sakura in the evening, where I was reunited with Nico, who I met in Mexico 2 years ago. We had the best time with the Chinese and Thai tourists. I really did enjoy Vang Vieng, but I was missing a place to hang out in town from where I could enjoy the view. There are many more tours you can do, including the ziplining and rock climbing.
A day tour in Tham Nam includes tubing, zip lining, kayaking and a visit to Blue Lagoon 4. The action packed day tour is more efficient and affordable compared to doing each activity separately. You won't have to rent a scooter and drive yourself. The tubing takes place in the Tham Nam water cave, where you get headlamps and helmets so you can explore the inside of the cave whilst floating through the tunnels. Very different to the tipsy tubing experience.
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