Check out the Pai of Laos.

Vang Vieng, in the southern part of Laos, is now often compared to the Pai of 10 or 20 years ago—before the quiet village in Mae Hong Son became too crowded over holiday breaks. People in Vang Vieng are very friendly, the weather is chilly over the winter season, life is slow, the air is clean and the sky is crisp and blue. Yes, Vang Vieng has it all. This is heaven for backpackers who want to kick back, outback adventurers and hippies who want to get away from the big bad city. With enough businesses to cover your basic needs and enough Beer Lao to cover, well your basic needs as well, you won’t even have to rough it that much.

The Town

Vang Vieng Town sits by the Song River, locally called Nam Song, and is so small you can walk through it in 15 minutes. It welcomes mostly Western visitors—think Khao San—but there are more and more Asians, Thais and even Laos dropping by. Along the main road, which is one of the few paved roads in Vang Vieng, low-rise restaurants, shops, cafés, guesthouses and tour operation offices vie for your kip (or baht, or dollars). Don’t waste your time looking for edgy fashion, cool hangouts and modern cafés. There ain’t any. Some call it baan nok, we call it simple. Everyone’s a millionaire here—in kip, granted—but there’s nothing to buy. So forget the malls and start chillin’.

Getting Out

Vang Vieng used to be only a stop on the Vientiane-Luang Prabang route. But now, people are spending more and more time here, trekking, exploring caves, rafting, or checking out temples. The one thing you have to try is the river tubing and kayaking. You can buy a tour from any operator in town—the prices are pretty much all the same, depending on your bargaining skills. A one-day tubing tour is around B250, while the tubing and kayaking tour is around B350, with lunch and transportation included. The trip begins at Tham Nam (that means water cave), where you sit on a tube and drag yourself along a cable into the pitch-dark cave—spooky! You’ll get a flashlight though. On some parts of the cave you have to walk, at other times, you have to paddle. The inside of the cave is very polished, quite slippery and somehow glittering. If you dare, locals say the earth inside the cave is great for your skin. Mud bath, anyone? After tubing, there’s a lunch with simple dishes like fried rice and barbequed meat. You can then drop by the Elephant Cave, which is only a short walk away. The small cave houses a Buddha statue and the rock formations there take on many shapes. One of them looks unmistakably like an elephant.

The next stop is at the far side of Nam Song where you will be instructed on how to kayak. If you are a lazy bum, and don’t mind spending five hours on a tube, tubing is quite fun, too—but kayaking will take you less than two hours. From there, you go along the river—crystal clear water below, blue sky above and greenery on both sides. There are even a few rapids to keep you alert. The highlight: after an hour or so, you will arrive at an oasis. Yes, in the middle of nowhere, a few bars have mushroomed serving ice cold Beer Lao, food and music. Now that’s exploration for you! Unfortunately, since the only way out of there is down the river, you’ll get thrown out at 5pm. But wait, there’s a second bar on the way where increasingly inebriated river-riders dance, play volleyball or ping pong, chill out by the river, sunbathe and release their inner-monkey on a swing. If you’re kayaking, keep some energy. If you’re tubing, party as hard as you want. The tube knows the way home to Vang Vieng.

Eat, Eat, Eat

If you want to have a laid back day in town, there’s nothing much to do except eat. A beer is around B40, a nice meal is B150-300 and no matter how hard you try to really pig out, good luck spending more than B400. There is quite a variety of food here, from Laos to Thai to pizza. The Westen dishes aren’t exactly authentic, but there’s nothing really wrong with what the Lao have done to them either. Think of it as fusion. We ate at Lucky Restaurant (on the main road) and ordered pizza. The crust is crispy enough but the toppings are pretty exotic. And while we’re complaining, Laos wine tastes like cough syrup and cocktails are weak. But if you eat local, then you’re in for some really good surprises. The larb, the best in town, is full of herbs and is spicy—different from the sourer Thai ones but yummy. Another place for great Laos food is at Otherside Guesthouse (Song River, 02-510-6288). With its bamboo terrace extending over the river, you can eat while watching cows and ducks walk or swim by. Here, everything tastes great and costs close to nothing: larb, phad phak, somtam—which is super spicy—or a cup Lao coffee. If what you want is to watch people go by instead of livestock, Sanaxay Restaurant (02-351-1440, 02-0562-8725) is a good spot. We recommend their kai yang (grilled chicken), as the skin is crispy and the meat juicy. Coffee addicts or those who want to kill time can park their butts at Ban Lao Restaurant (in Sanaxay Restaurant’s soi), which serves nice Lao coffee, espresso and cocoa. The bread is a must, while the bakery is just OK. If you wake up early, stroll along the main road where vendors wheel in their motorized carts to sell different kinds of street food delights: Lao noodles, soy milk, curry rice and more.

Where to Stay

We recommend you get the true backpacker experience at Otherside Guesthouse. They offer small huts—a bed, a roof, period—with shared bathrooms. The place is clean and the background is a rice field with a mountain looming in the distance: picturesque and a bargain at B150. Their restaurant by the river is nice too and it’s fun walking to town from here as you’ll have to pass a shaky bamboo bridge (even better when hammered). Discerning holiday goers will prefer the Elephant Crossing Hotel (02-511-232, www.theelephantcrossinghotel.com). The rooms have air-con, TV and hot water. Four-star hotel luxury comes at a price, starting at US$30 (B883). It has a restaurant by the river, too, but the mood is a lot more romantic and upscale. More hiso than Otherside Guesthouse, but not quite as lovely as the Elephant Crossing Hotel, is the Thavonsouk Resort Sunset and Restaurant (02-351-1086, www.thavonsouk.com). A standard room is from US$22-25 (B645-B732) and, guess what, they have a restaurant by the river!